Reliability And Validity In Diagnosis And Classification

Question 1

What is reliability in terms of diagnosis?

Answer 1

Reliability refers to consistency e.g. clinicians must be able to reach the same conclusions at two different points in time in one patient to diagnose a disorder.
The diagnosis must be repeatable in the same patient (test- retest) or (inter-rater reliability)

Question 2

What is validity in terms of diagnosis and classification?

Answer 2

Whether clinicians assess what they are trying to assess (whether symptoms represent something distinct from other disorders).

Question 3

What is one way of assessing the validity of a diagnosis?

Answer 3

Criterion validity which is where a diagnosis is assessed against a criteria.

Question 4

What are the research findings by Elie cheniaux in terms of assessing the validity of a diagnosis?

Answer 4

Assessed clients using the ICD and the DSM.
Found that 68 diagnosed with schizophrenia under the ICD and 39 under the DSM

Question 5

Explain some cultural differences in diagnosis for schizophrenia

Answer 5

Culture has an influence on the diagnostic process for example there is variation between countries when diagnosing disorders such as schizophrenia.
Research by Copeland: gave 134 US and 194 British psychiatrists a description of a patient.
69% of US psychiatrists diagnosed patient with schizophrenia whereas only 2% of British psychiatrists diagnosed them with schizophrenia.
African and Indian subjects have reported positive experiences with hearing voices whereas US subjects have reported negative experiences.