Abstract
The WHO Mental Health Programme has developed several diagnostic interview questionnaires for the reliable and valid assessment of mental disorders. The CIDI is one such tool that has already been field-tested in more than 20 countries throughout the world. It has demonstrated good reliability and acceptability for cross-cultural studies. The Somatoform Disorders Schedule (SDS) is a newly-developed instrument based largely on the CIDI 1.1 section on somatoform disorders. It has been field-tested in five culturally distinct locations (USA, Brazil, Italy, India and Zimbabwe) and has been found to have high inter-rater reliability as well as test-pretest diagnostic reliability. Interviewer-observer reliability was also assessed, as were “intersite” comparisons, and revealed a high reliability coefficient. This instrument should prove to be a useful instrument for future research on somatoform disorders.
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Burke, J., Couchman, G. Validity and Reliability of Procedures for the Assessment of Somatoform Disorders. Neuropsychopharmacol 11, 257 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1380113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1380113