Mental health professionals' use of the ICD-11 classification of impulse control disorders and behavioral addictions: An international field study.

Background and aims: The ICD-11 chapter on mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders contains new controversial diagnoses including compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD), intermittent explosive disorder (IED) and gaming disorder. Using a vignette-based methodology, this field study examined the ability of mental health professionals (MHPs) to apply the new ICD-11 diagnostic requirements for impulse control disorders, which include CSBD and IED, and disorders due to addictive behaviors, which include gaming disorder, compared to the previous ICD-10 guidelines. Methods: Across eleven comparisons, members of the WHO's Global Clinical Practice Network (N = 1,090) evaluated standardized case descriptions that were designed to test key differences between the diagnostic guidelines of ICD-11 and ICD-10. Results: The ICD-11 outperformed the ICD-10 in the accuracy of diagnosing impulse control disorders and behavioral addictions in most comparisons, while the ICD-10 was not superior in any. The superiority of the ICD-11 was particularly clear where new diagnoses had been added to the classification system or major revisions had been made. However, the ICD-11 outperformed the ICD-10 only in a minority of comparisons in which mental health professionals were asked to evaluate cases with non-pathological high involvement in rewarding behaviors. Discussion and Conclusions: Overall, the present study indicates that the ICD-11 diagnostic requirements represent an improvement over the ICD-10 guidelines. However, additional efforts, such as training programs for MHPs and possible refinements of diagnostic guidance, are needed to avoid over-diagnosis of people who are highly engaged in a repetitive and rewarding behavior but below the threshold for a disorder.

Examining accurate diagnosis of complex PTSD in ICD-11.

BACKGROUND: Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD), the most frequently suggested new category for inclusion by mental health professionals, has been included in the Eleventh Revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Research has yet to explore whether clinicians' recognition of the distinct complex PTSD symptoms predicts giving the correct diagnosis. The present study sought to determine if international mental health professionals were able to accurately diagnose complex PTSD and identify the shared PTSD features and three essential diagnostic features, specific to complex PTSD. METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to view two vignettes and tasked with providing a diagnosis (or indicating that no diagnosis was warranted). Participants then answered a series of questions regarding the presence or absence of each of the essential diagnostic features specific to the diagnosis they provided. RESULTS: Clinicians who recognized the presence or absence of complex PTSD specific features were more likely to arrive at the correct diagnostic conclusion. Complex PTSD specific features were significant predictors while the shared PTSD features were not, indicating that attending to each of the specific symptoms was necessary for diagnostic accuracy of complex PTSD. LIMITATIONS: The use of written case vignettes including only adult patients and a non-representative sample of mental health professionals may limit the generalizability of the results. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support mental health professionals' ability to accurately identify specific features of complex PTSD. Future work should assess whether mental health providers can effectively identify symptoms of complex PTSD in a clinical setting.

Longitudinal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stress and Occupational Well-Being of Mental Health Professionals: An International Study.

BACKGROUND: Increased levels of occupational stress among health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic have been documented. Few studies have examined the effects of the pandemic on mental health professionals despite the heightened demand for their services. METHOD: A multilingual, longitudinal, global survey was conducted at 3 time points during the pandemic among members of the World Health Organization's Global Clinical Practice Network. A total of 786 Global Clinical Practice Network members from 86 countries responded to surveys assessing occupational distress, well-being, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. RESULTS: On average, respondents' well-being deteriorated across time while their posttraumatic stress symptoms showed a modest improvement. Linear growth models indicated that being female, being younger, providing face-to-face health services to patients with COVID-19, having been a target of COVID-related violence, and living in a low- or middle-income country or a country with a higher COVID-19 death rate conveyed greater risk for poor well-being and higher level of stress symptoms over time. Growth mixed modeling identified trajectories of occupational well-being and stress symptoms. Most mental health professions demonstrated no impact to well-being; maintained moderate, nonclinical levels of stress symptoms; or showed improvements after an initial period of difficulty. However, some participant groups exhibited deteriorating well-being approaching the clinical threshold (25.8%) and persistently high and clinically significant levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (19.6%) over time. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that although most mental health professionals exhibited stable, positive well-being and low stress symptoms during the pandemic, a substantial minority of an already burdened global mental health workforce experienced persistently poor or deteriorating psychological status over the course of the pandemic.

Case-controlled field study of the ICD-11 clinical descriptions and diagnostic requirements for Bodily Distress Disorders.

AIMS: Mental disorders characterized by preoccupation with distressing bodily symptoms and associated functional impairment have been a target of major reconceptualization in the ICD-11, in which a single category of Bodily Distress Disorder (BDD) with different levels of severity replaces most of the Somatoform Disorders in ICD-10. This study compared the accuracy of clinicians' diagnosis of disorders of somatic symptoms using either the ICD-11 or ICD-10 diagnostic guidelines in an online study. METHODS: Clinically active members of the World Health Organization's Global Clinical Practice Network (N = 1065) participating in English, Spanish, or Japanese were randomly assigned to apply ICD-11 or ICD-10 diagnostic guidelines to one of nine pairs of standardized case vignettes. The accuracy of the clinicians' diagnoses as well as their ratings of the guidelines' clinical utility were assessed. RESULTS: Overall, clinicians were more accurate using ICD-11 compared to ICD-10 for every presentation of a vignette characterized primarily by bodily symptoms associated with distress and impairment. Clinicians who made a diagnosis of BDD using ICD-11 were generally correct in applying the severity specifiers for the condition. LIMITATIONS: This sample may represent some self-selection bias and thus may not generalize to all clinicians. Additionally, diagnostic decisions with live patients may lead to different results. CONCLUSIONS: The ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines for BDD represent an improvement over those for Somatoform Disorders in ICD-10 in regard to clinicians' diagnostic accuracy and perceived clinical utility.

Anxiety among Central American Migrants in Mexico: A Cumulative Vulnerability.

Migration exposes Central American migrants, particularly those who migrate without documents, to a range of incidents, dangers, and risks that increase their vulnerability to anxiety symptoms. In most cases, the poverty, conflict, and violence they experience in their countries of origin are compounded by the unpredictable conditions of their journey through Mexico. The objective of this study was to explore the association between the presence of emotional discomfort and the experience of various vulnerabilities from the perspective of a group of Central American migrants in transit through Mexico. This is a descriptive, mixed-methods study (QUALI-QUAN). During the qualitative phase, thirty-five migrants were interviewed (twenty in Mexico City and six in Tijuana). During the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to 217 migrants in shelters in Tijuana. An analysis of the subjects' accounts yielded various factors associated with stress and anxiety, which were divided into five main groups: (1) precarious conditions during the journey through Mexico, (2) rejection and abuse due to their identity, (3) abuse by Mexican authorities, (4) violence by criminal organizations, and (5) waiting time before being able to continue their journey. The interaction of various vulnerabilities predisposes individuals to present emotional discomfort, such as anxiety. Migrants who reported experiencing three or more vulnerabilities presented the highest percentages of anxiety symptoms.

Do We Need a Novel Framework for Classifying Psychopathology? A Discussion Paper.

Introduction: The ICD-11 and DSM-5 are the leading systems for the classification of mental disorders, and their relevance for clinical work and research, as well as their impact for policy making and legal questions, has increased considerably. In recent years, other frameworks have been proposed to supplement or even replace the ICD and the DSM, raising many questions regarding clinical utility, scientific relevance, and, at the core, how best to conceptualize mental disorders. Method: As examples of the new approaches that have emerged, here we introduce the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP), the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), systems and network approaches, process-based approaches, as well as a new approach to the classification of personality disorders. Results and Discussion: We highlight main distinctions between these classification frameworks, largely related to different priorities and goals, and discuss areas of overlap and potential compatibility. Synergies among these systems may provide promising new avenues for research and clinical practice.

Who feels affected by "out of control" sexual behavior? Prevalence and correlates of indicators for ICD-11 Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder in the German Health and Sexuality Survey (GeSiD).

Background and aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of indicators consistent with Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD)-defined and operationalized according to the ICD-11 guidelines-in a large (n = 4,633; 50.5% male; 49,5% female) probability-based German national sample. Methods: Participants were asked if they had ever experienced "intense and recurring sexual impulses or sexual urges that I had difficulty controlling and resulted in sexual behavior" over a period of several months. Those who reported this experience were queried about the associated distress. Results: Overall, 4.9% of men [95% CI = 3.9-6.1] and 3.0% of women [95% CI = 2.3-3.9] reported experiences consistent with ICD-11 diagnostic requirements for lifetime diagnosis. In the 12 months preceding the study, 3.2% of men [95% CI = 2.4-4.2] and 1.8% of women [95% CI = 1.2-2.5] reported experiences consistent with CSBD requirements. Compared to controls and participants who reported elements of compulsive sexuality but without accompanying distress, strict religious upbringing was most prevalent in the CSBD group. The CSBD group was more likely to view sexual practices like men having sex with men as unacceptable and to report the belief that pornography has negative impacts on their sex life and life in general. Compared to the other two groups, the CSBD group was significantly more likely to have received psychiatric treatment for depression or another mental health problem during the past 12 months. Discussion and conclusions: The current study provides novel and important insights into the prevalence and characteristics of CSBD in the general population.

The Influence of Clinician Gender and Attitudes on Judgments Related to Forensic Considerations in ICD-11 Paraphilic Disorders: An Internet-based Field Study

Aim: This study aimed to identify whether clinicians’ gender, clinical experience, and personal attitudes influenced their perception of criminality of specific sexual behaviours, their judgments about criminal liability if mentally disordered, and the need for treatment as part of criminal settings for those having ICD-11 paraphilic disorders. Method: In a secondary analysis of data only vignettes with the least (do not meet paraphilic disorder diagnostic requirements) and most extreme (met paraphilic disorder diagnostic requirements) descriptions of ICD-11 frotteuristic, coercive sexual sadism, and exhibitionistic arousal patterns and related behavior were randomly presented to participants. A total of 1,101 clinicians rated one to three vignettes (a total of 1,884) answering questions regarding diagnosis, criminal features, and their own attitudes. Results: The ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines were adequately used to distinguish paraphilic disorders from non-pathological arousal patterns.Vignette severity was the most important predictor for clinicians’ determination that a crime was committed. Results showed an interaction of the classification of paraphilic disorders, clinicians’ gender, and personal attitudes with judgments about concepts associated with criminality, criminal liability if a diagnosis was indicated, and the need for treatment in forensic settings. Conclusions: Increased formal education, clinical training about these disorders, and evidence-based treatment guidelines are required to avoid biases that may come from preconceived ideas and personal attitudes. Laws and policies that unnecessarily restrict the treatment of these patients in non-forensic settings—for example, when the individual is distress about the arousal pattern but no crime has been committed—should be examined. (AU)

Objetivo: Se diseñó un estudio con el objetivo de identificar si el género, la experiencia clínica y las actitudes personales de los clínicos influyen en su percepción de la criminalidad de conductas sexuales concretas, sus juicios sobre la responsabilidad criminal en evaluaciones forenses en presencia de un trastorno mental y con la necesidad de tratamiento para aquellos que tienen un trastorno parafílico de la CIE-11. Método: En un análisis secundario de los datos, se presentaron al azar viñetas con una descripción mínima (no cumple con los requisitos diagnósticos para un trastorno parafílico) y una descripción completa (cumple con los requisitos diagnósticos para un trastorno parafílico) de los patrones de excitación froteurismo, sadismo sexual coercitivo, exhibicionismo y conductas relacionadas de la CIE-11. Un total de 1,101 clínicos calificaron de una a tres viñetas (un total de 1,884) respondiendo a preguntas sobre el diagnóstico, las características criminales y sus propias actitudes. Resultados: Las guías diagnósticas de la CIE-11 fueron adecuadamente utilizadas por los clínicos para distinguir los trastornos parafílicos de los patrones de excitación no patológicos. La gravedad de la viñeta fue el predictor más importante para la determinación de los clínicos de que se había cometido un delito. Los resultados mostraron una interacción de la clasificación de los trastornos parafílicos, el género de los clínicos y las actitudes personales con los juicios sobre conceptos asociados con la criminalidad, la responsabilidad criminal en presencia de un trastorno mental y la necesidad de tratamiento en contextos de evaluación forenses. Conclusiones: Se requiere mayor educación formal, entrenamiento clínico sobre estos trastornos y guías de tratamiento basadas en evidencia para evitar sesgos que puedan provenir de ideas preconcebidas y actitudes personales. (AU)

Emerging experience with selected new categories in the ICD-11: complex PTSD, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder.

Among the important changes in the ICD-11 is the addition of 21 new mental disorders. New categories are typically proposed to: a) improve the usefulness of morbidity statistics; b) facilitate recognition of a clinically important but poorly classified mental disorder in order to provide appropriate management; and c) stimulate research into more effective treatments. Given the major implications for the field and for World Health Organization (WHO) member states, it is important to examine the impact of these new categories during the early phase of the ICD-11 implementation. This paper focuses on four disorders: complex post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder. These categories were selected because they have been the focus of considerable activity and/or controversy and because their inclusion in the ICD-11 represents a different decision than was made for the DSM-5. The lead authors invited experts on each of these disorders to provide insight into why it was considered important to add it to the ICD-11, implications for care of not having that diagnostic category, important controversies about adding the disorder, and a review of the evidence generated and other developments related to the category since the WHO signaled its intention to include it in the ICD-11. Each of the four diagnostic categories appears to describe a population with clinically important and distinctive features that had previously gone unrecognized as well as specific treatment needs that would otherwise likely go unmet. The introduction of these categories in the ICD-11 has been followed by a substantial expansion of research in each area, which has generally supported their validity and utility, and by a significant increase in the availability of appropriate services.

The Network Structure of ICD-11 Disorders Specifically Associated with Stress: Adjustment Disorder, Prolonged Grief Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

INTRODUCTION: The ICD-11 includes a new grouping for "disorders specifically associated with stress" that contains revised descriptions of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adjustment disorder (AjD) and new diagnoses in the form of complex PTSD (CPTSD) and prolonged grief disorder (PGD). These disorders are similar in that they each require a life event for the diagnosis; however, they have not yet been assessed together for validity within the same sample. We set out to test the distinctiveness of the four main ICD-11 stress disorders using a network analysis approach. METHODS: A population-based, cross-sectional design. A nationally representative sample of adults from the Republic of Ireland aged 18 years and older (N = 1,020) completed standardized measures of PTSD, CPTSD, AjD, and PGD. A network analysis was conducted at the symptom level. Outcome measures included the International Trauma Questionnaire, the Inventory of Complicated Grief, and the International Adjustment Disorder Questionnaire. RESULTS: Consistent with the taxonomic structure of the ICD-11, our results showed that although the four conditions clustered independently at the disorder level, the specific symptoms of PTSD, CPTSD, PGD, and AjD clustered together very strongly but more strongly than with symptoms of the other disorders. The majority (61%) of the variation in each symptom could be explained by its neighboring symptoms. The strongest transdiagnostically connecting symptom was "startle response." DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Mental health professionals caring for people who have experienced a range of stressors and traumatic life events can be confident in diagnosing these conditions that have clear diagnostic boundaries. Interventions addressing stress-associated disorders should be based on diagnostic assessment to ensure close fit between symptoms and treatment.

An international survey examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on telehealth use among mental health professionals.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has profoundly affected the work of mental health professionals with many transitioning to telehealth to comply with public health measures. This large international study examined the impact of the pandemic on mental health clinicians' telehealth use. METHODS: This survey study was conducted with mental health professionals, primarily psychiatrists and psychologists, registered with WHO's Global Clinical Practice Network (GCPN). 1206 clinicians from 100 countries completed the telehealth section of the online survey in one of six languages between June 4 and July 7, 2020. Participants were asked about their use, training (i.e., aspects of telehealth addressed), perceptions, and concerns. OUTCOMES: Since the pandemic onset, 1092 (90.5%) clinicians reported to have started or increased their telehealth services. Telephone and videoconferencing were the most common modalities. 592 (49.1%) participants indicated that they had not received any training. Clinicians with no training or training that only addressed a single aspect of telehealth practice were more likely to perceive their services as somewhat ineffective than those with training that addressed two or more aspects. Most clinicians indicated positive perceptions of effectiveness and patient satisfaction. Quality of care compared to in-person services and technical issues were the most common concerns. Findings varied by WHO region, country income level, and profession. INTERPRETATION: Findings suggest a global practice change with providers perceiving telehealth as a viable option for mental health care. Increasing local training opportunities and efforts to address clinical and technological concerns is important for meeting ongoing demands.

Evaluating the Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence-Related Training and Mental Health Professionals' Assessment of Relationship Problems.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem associated with increased risk of developing mental health conditions. Assessment of IPV in mental health settings is important for appropriate treatment planning and referral; however, lack of training in how to identify and respond to IPV presents a significant barrier to assessment. To address this issue, the World Health Organization (WHO) advanced a series of evidence-based recommendations for IPV-related training programs. This study examines the relationship between mental health professionals' experiences of IPV-related training, including the degree to which their training resembles WHO training recommendations, and their accuracy in correctly identifying relationship problems. Participants were psychologists and psychiatrists (N = 321) from 24 countries who agreed to participate in an online survey in French, Japanese, or Spanish. They responded to questions regarding their IPV-related training (i.e., components and hours of training) and rated the presence or absence of clinically significant relationship problems and maltreatment (RPM) and mental disorders across four case vignettes. Participants who received IPV-related training, and whose training was more recent and more closely resembled WHO training recommendations, were more likely than those without training to accurately identify RPM when it was present. Clinicians regardless of IPV-related training were equally likely to misclassify normative couple issues as clinically significant RPM. Findings suggest that IPV-related training assists clinicians in making more accurate assessments of patients presenting with clinically significant relationship problems, including IPV. These data inform recommendations for IPV-related training programs and suggest that training should be repeated, multicomponent, and include experiential training exercises, and guidelines for distinguishing normative relationship problems from clinically significant RPM.

Exploring Mental Health Professionals' Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence-Related Training: Results From a Global Survey.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health problem that has been shown to lead to serious mental health consequences. Due to its frequent co-occurrence with psychiatric disorders, it is important to assess for IPV in mental health settings to improve treatment planning and referral. However, lack of training in how to identify and respond to IPV has been identified as a barrier for the assessment of IPV. The present study seeks to better understand this IPV-related training gap by assessing global mental health professionals' experiences of IPV-related training and factors that contribute to their likelihood of receiving training. Participants were French-, Spanish-, and Japanese-speaking psychologists and psychiatrists (N = 321) from 24 nations differing on variables related to IPV, including IPV prevalence, IPV-related norms, and IPV-related laws. Participants responded to an online survey asking them to describe their experiences of IPV-related training (i.e., components and hours of training) and were asked to rate the frequency with which they encountered IPV in clinical practice and their level of knowledge and experience related to relationship problems; 53.1% of participants indicated that they had received IPV-related training. Clinicians from countries with relatively better implemented laws addressing IPV and those who encountered IPV more often in their regular practice were more likely to have received training. Participants who had received IPV-related training, relative to those without training, were more likely to report greater knowledge and experience related to relationship problems. Findings suggest that clinicians' awareness of IPV and the institutional context in which they practice are related to training. Training, in turn, is associated with subjective appraisals of knowledge and experience related to relationship problems. Increasing institutional efforts to address IPV (e.g., implementing IPV legislation) may contribute to improved practices with regard to IPV in mental health settings.

ICD-11 Guidelines for Mental and Behavioral Disorders of Children and Adolescents: Reliability and Clinical Utility.

OBJECTIVE: ICD-11 clinical guidelines for mental and behavioral disorders must be tested in clinical settings to guarantee their usefulness worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate interrater reliability and clinical utility of the ICD-11 guidelines for children and adolescents in assessing and diagnosing mood, anxiety, and fear-related disorders; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and disruptive behavioral disorder (DBD). METHODS: Children and adolescents ages 6-17 from two specialized settings in Mexico City were interviewed. Each was interviewed by a pair of psychiatrists (interviewer and observer), who independently codified established diagnoses and evaluated the clinical utility of the guidelines with each participant. Kappa values were calculated to determine the level of general diagnostic correlation between the two clinicians. RESULTS: A total of 25 psychiatrists evaluated 52 children and adolescents. Kappa values between clinicians ranged from 0.46 to 0.53 for mood, anxiety, and fear-related disorders and for ADHD; the kappa value was 0.81 for DBD guidelines. Over 80% of psychiatrists reported that the guidelines, qualifiers, and descriptions of developmental presentations were quite useful. CONCLUSIONS: ICD-11 guidelines for mental and behavioral disorders of children and adolescents demonstrated mostly moderate interrater reliability and strong interrater reliability in the case of DBD. A large proportion of clinicians regarded the guidelines as quite useful clinical tools.

Validity of Categories Related to Gender Identity in ICD-11 and DSM-5 Among Transgender Individuals who Seek Gender-Affirming Medical Procedures.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The most recent versions of the two main mental disorders classifications-the World Health Organization's ICD-11 and the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5-differ substantially in their diagnostic categories related to transgender identity. ICD-11 gender incongruence (GI), in contrast to DSM-5 gender dysphoria (GD), is explicitly not a mental disorder; neither distress nor dysfunction is a required feature. The objective was compared ICD-11 and DSM-5 diagnostic requirements in terms of their sensitivity, specificity, discriminability and ability to predict the use of gender-affirming medical procedures. METHOD: A total of 649 of transgender adults in six countries completed a retrospective structured interview. RESULTS: Using ROC analysis, sensitivity of the diagnostic requirements was equivalent for both systems, but ICD-11 showed greater specificity than DSM-5. Regression analyses indicated that history of hormones and/or surgery was predicted by variables that are an intrinsic aspect of GI/GD more than by distress and dysfunction. IRT analyses showed that the ICD-11 diagnostic formulation was more parsimonious and contained more information about caseness than the DSM-5 model. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the ICD-11 position that GI/GD is not a mental disorder; additional diagnostic requirements of distress and/or dysfunction in DSM-5 reduce the predictive power of the diagnostic model.

ANTECEDENTES/OBJETIVO: Las versiones más recientes de las clasificaciones de trastornos mentales ­CIE-11 de la Organización Mundial de la Salud y DSM­5 de la Asociación Psiquiátrica Americana­ difieren en sus categorías diagnósticas relacionadas con la identidad transgénero. La discordancia de género (DiscG) de la CIE-11, en contraste con la disforia de género (DisfG) del DSM-5, no es considerada un trastorno mental; el distrés y la disfunción no son características requeridas para el diagnóstico. El objetivo fue comparar los requisitos diagnósticos de la CIE-11 y el DSM-5 en términos de sensibilidad, especificidad y capacidad para discriminar casos y predecir el uso de procedimientos médicos de afirmación de género. MÉTODO: 649 adultos transgénero de seis países completaron una entrevista estructurada retrospectiva. RESULTADOS: De acuerdo con el análisis ROC, la sensibilidad de ambos sistemas fue equivalente, aunque la CIE-11 mostró mayor especificidad que el DSM-5. Los análisis de regresión indicaron que la historia de uso de hormonas o cirugía se predijo por variables intrínsecas a la DiscG/DisfG y no por el distrés o disfunción. Según los análisis de respuesta al ítem (TRi) la formación CIE-11 resulta más parsimoniosa y contiene mayor información sobre los casos. CONCLUSIONES: Se aporta evidencia a favor de que la DiscG/DisfG no es un trastorno mental; los criterios diagnósticos adicionales de distrés y/o disfunción del DSM-5 reducen su poder predictivo.

A global field study of the international classification of diseases (ICD-11) mood disorders clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines.

BACKGROUND: We report results of an internet-based field study evaluating the diagnostic guidelines for ICD-11 mood disorders. Accuracy of clinicians' diagnostic judgments applying draft ICD-11 as compared to the ICD-10 guidelines to standardized case vignettes was assessed as well as perceived clinical utility. METHODS: 1357 clinician members of the World Health Organization's Global Clinical Practice Network completed the study in English, Spanish, Japanese or Russian. Participants were randomly assigned to apply ICD-11 or ICD-10 guidelines to one of eleven pairs of case vignettes. RESULTS: Clinicians using the ICD-11 and ICD-10 guidelines achieved similar levels of accuracy in diagnosing mood disorders depicted in vignettes. Those using the ICD-11 were more accurate in identifying depressive episode in recurrent depressive disorder. There were no statistically significant differences detected across classifications in the accuracy of identifying dysthymic or cyclothymic disorder. Circumscribed problems with the proposed ICD-11 guidelines were identified including difficulties differentiating bipolar type I from bipolar type II disorder and applying revised severity ratings to depressive episodes. Clinical utility of ICD-11 bipolar disorders was found to be significantly lower than for ICD-10 equivalent categories. LIMITATIONS: Standardized case vignettes were manipulated to evaluate specific changes. The degree of accuracy of clinicians' diagnostic judgments may not reflect clinical decision-making with patients. CONCLUSIONS: Alignment of the ICD-11 with current research appears to have been achieved without sacrificing diagnostic accuracy or clinical utility though specific training may be necessary as ICD-11 is implemented worldwide. Areas in which the ICD-11 guidelines did not perform as intended resulted in further revisions.

Can Clinicians Use Dimensional Information to Make a Categorical Diagnosis of Paraphilic Disorders? An ICD-11 Field Study.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of paraphilic disorder is a complicated clinical judgment based on the integration of information from multiple dimensions to arrive at a categorical (present/absent) conclusion. The recent update of the guidelines for paraphilic disorders in ICD-11 presents an opportunity to investigate how mental health professionals use the diagnostic guidelines to arrive at a diagnosis which thereby can optimize the guidelines for clinical use. AIM: This study examined clinicians' ability to use the ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines for paraphilic disorders which contain multiple dimensions that must be simultaneously assessed to arrive at a diagnosis. METHODS: The study investigated the ability of 1,263 international clinicians to identify the dimensions of paraphilic disorder in the context of written case vignettes that varied on a single dimension only. OUTCOMES: Participants provided diagnoses for the case vignettes along with dimensional ratings of the degree of presence of five dimensions of paraphilic disorder (arousal, consent, action, distress, and risk). RESULTS: Across a series of analyses, clinicians demonstrated a clear ability to recognize and appropriately integrate the dimensions of paraphilic disorders; however, there was some evidence that clinicians may over-diagnose non-pathological cases. CLINICAL TRANSLATION: Clinicians would likely benefit from targeted training on the ICD-11 definition of paraphilic disorder and should be cautious of over-diagnosing. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: This study represents a large international sample of health professionals and is the first to examine clinicians' ability to apply the ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines for paraphilic disorders. Important limitations include not generalizing to all clinicians and acknowledging that results may be different in direct clinical interactions vs written case vignettes. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that clinicians appear capable of interpreting and implementing the diagnostic guidelines for paraphilic disorders in ICD-11. Keeley JW, Briken P, Evans SC, et al. Can Clinicians Use Dimensional Information to Make a Categorical Diagnosis of Paraphilic Disorders? An ICD-11 Field Study. J Sex Med 2021;18:1592-1606.