Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gvh9x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T13:07:45.044Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Reliability of Psychiatric Diagnosis: Some New Thoughts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

P. Ley
P. Ley*
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool Department of Psychiatry, 6 Abercromby Square, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The literature on agreement between psychiatrists on the diagnostic assignment of cases has been extensively reviewed by Ley (1970). Percentage agreement figures ranged from 24 per cent and 28 per cent agreement for type of character disorder and type of neurosis respectively to 80 percent for type of organic illness. Taken at face value these findings suggested that psychiatric diagnosis may often be of little value.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 121 , Issue 560 , July 1972 , pp. 41 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1972 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hunt, W. A., Wittson, C. L., and Hunt, E. B. (1953). ‘Theoretical and practical analysis of the diagnostic process’, in Current Problems in Psychiatric Diagnosis (eds. Hoch, P. M. and Zubin, J.). New York: Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Kreitman, N., Sainsbury, P., Morrissey, J., Towers, J., and Scrivener, J. (1961). ‘The reliability of psychiatric assessment: an analysis.’ J. ment. Sci., 107, 887–908.Google Scholar
Ley, P. (1970). ‘Acute psychiatric patients,’ in The Psychological Assessment of Mental and Physical Handicaps (ed. Mittler, P.). London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Norris, V. (1959). Mental Illness in London. London: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Sandifer, M. G., Hordern, A., Timbury, G. C., and Green, L. M. (1968). ‘Psychiatric diagnosis: a comparative study in North Carolina, London and Glasgow.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., 114, 1–9.Google Scholar
Schmidt, H., and Fonda, C. (1956). ‘The reliability of psychiatric diagnosis: a new look.’ J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 52, 262–7.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.