Summary
Contrasting the classification systems ICD-9 and DSM-III-R, a comparison of diagnoses for unipolar depressive disorders is presented from a sample of 168 psychiatric outpatients. A relatively clear correspondence existed between ICD-9 endogenous depression and DSM-III-R major depression. Neurotic depression (ICD-9) divided into either dysthymia or major depression in DSM-III-R. A generally greater variety of corresponding ICD-9 diagnoses was observed for DSM-III-R categories, since patients with eating disorders, alcohol or drug dependence, or with neuroses other than depressive type often received an additional specific DSM-III-R diagnosis for depression. For ICD-9 diagnostics, a decreased threshold was found for diagnosing depressive reaction, as compared with the equivalent DSM-III-R diagnosis of adjustment disorder with depressed mood. A new technique is introduced in order to adjust corresponding proportions according to base rate differences.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APA American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-III-R. APA, Washington
Andreasen N (1982) Concepts, diagnosis, and classification. In: Paykel ES (ed) Handbook of affective disorders. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh
Andreasen NC, Grove WM, Endicott J, Coryell WH, Scheftner WA, Hirschfeld RMA, Keller MB (1988) The phenomenology of depression. Psychiatry Psychobiol 3: 1–10
Bech P, Clemmesen L (1983) The diagnosis of depression: 20 years later. Acta Psychiatr Scand [Suppl No 310] 68:9–30
Bobon DP (1980) Description et comparison de la revision de deux classifications des maladies mentales: la CIM-9 (ICD-9) et le DSM-III. Acta Psychiatr Belg 19:846–863
Cohen J (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educ Psychol Meas 20:37–46
Helzer JE, Robins LN, Taibleson M, Woodruff RA, Reich T, Wish ED (1977) Reliability of psychiatric diagnoses: I. a methodological review. Arch Gen Psychiatry 34:129–133
Hiller W, Zaudig M, Mittelhammer J (1987) Münchner Diagnosen-Checkliste (MDCL) zur Erfassung des psychischen and psychopathologischen Befundes. München, Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatric, Psychiatrische Poliklinik
Kendell RE (1982) The choice of diagnostic criteria for biological research. Arch Gen Psychiatry 39:1334–1339
Maier W, Phillip M, Buller R (1986) Compatibility between ICD-9 and DSM-III classification of endogenous depression (melancholia). Pharmacopsychiatry 19:58–61
Paykel ES (1983) The classification of depression. Br J Clin Pharacol 15:155S-159S
Philip M, Maier W (1985) Operational diagnosis of endogenous depression. I. comparison with clinical diagnosis. Pharmacopsychiatry 18:112–113
Robins LE, Helzer JE, Croughan J, Ratcliff KS (1981) National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Its history, characteristics and validity. Arch Gen psychiatry 38:381–389
Semler G, Wittchen H-U, Joschke K, Zaudig M,Geiso T v, Kaiser S, Cranach M v, Pfister H (1987) Test-retest reliability of a standardized psychiatric interview (DIS/CIDI). Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 236:214–222
Skodol AE, Spitzer RL (1982) DSM-III: rationale, basic concepts, and some differences from ICD-9. Acta Psychiatr Scand 66:271–281
Spitzer RL, Endicott J, Robins E (1978) Reliability of clinical criteria for psychiatric diagnosis. In: Akiskal HS, Webb WL (eds): Psychiatric diagnosis: exploration of biological predictors. Spectrum Publications, amaica
Spitzer RL, Forman J, Nee J (1979) DSM-III field trials: initial interrater diagnostic reliability. Am J Psychiatry 136:815–820
Spitzer RL, Williams JBW (1983) The DSM-III classification of affective disorders. Acta Psychiatr Scand [Suppl No 310] 68:106–116
Spitzer RL, Williams JBW (1987) Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). Biometrics Research Department, NYS Psychiatric Institute, New York
Torgersen S (1986) Neurotic depression and DSM-III. Acta Psychiatr Scand [Suppl No 328] 73: 31–34
WHO World Health Organisation (1978) Mental disorders: glossary and guide to their classification in accordance with the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases. WHO, Geneva. German edition: Degkwitz R, Helmchen H, Kockott G, Mombour W (1980): Diagnoseschlüssel and Glossar psychiatrischer Krankheiten. Deutsche Ausgabe der internationalen Klassifikation der Krankheiten der WHO, ICD, 9. Revision. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Wittchen H-U, Schulte D (1988) Diagnostische Kriterien und operationalisierte Diagnosen. Grundlagen der Klassifikation psychischer Störungen. Diagnostica 34:3–27
Wittchen H-U, Semler G, Zerssen D v (1985) A comparison of two diagnostic methods. Arch Gen Psychiatry 42:677–684
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hiller, W., Mombour, W., Rummler, R. et al. Divergence and convergence of diagnoses for depression between ICD-9 and DSM-III-R. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 238, 39–46 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381079
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381079