study of 13 diagnostic systems [criteria] for schizophrenia on an Egyptian sample: frequencies, agreements and validity

ABSTRACT

We compared the frequencies and agreements of 13 systems for the diagnosis of schizophrenia Schneider; E.Bleuler;M. Bleuler; Langfeldt; Kraepelin, North America; Great Britain, Dongier; WHO-CSB, Yusin; Newmark; DSM-III; and Feighner. We tested also the validity of five of these systems as their concordance with clinical diagnosis and their sensitivity and specificity. The sample consisted of 200 newly admitted psychotic patients at four psychiatric hospitals in Egypt. Patients were assessed by the Arabic version of Landmark's questionnaire for the assessment of schizophrenia which is constructed to cover the requirement of the 13 systems, it showed that the 13 systems varied much in comprehensiveness. The highest agreement was between systems that specify the type of onset and course. The validity study supports the usefulness of DSM-III, WHO-CSB, and Langfeldt's systems for clinical practice. Feighner's criteria were the most specific for biological researches and Schneider's criteria were the least specific as they are unable to exclude other forms of psychoses