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Saturday, April 13, 2019

Potential considerations in Selection of a diagnostic interview

By: Laura J. Summerfield, Patricia H. kloosterman and Martin M. Antony


Coverage and content

•• Does the interview cover the time period of interest (e.g., lifetime occurrence, current episode, worst episode)?
•• Can the interview assess the course of the disorders of interest?•• Can the interview be used longitudinally to assess change in target symptoms or syndromes?•• Does the interview allow for diagnosis according to the relevant diagnostic system(s) (e.g., DSM-IV, ICD-10)?
•• Does the interview cover the disorders of interest?•• Does the interview provide a sufficiently detailed assessment?
Are other variables of interest assessed, such as longitudinal course, demographics, and risk factors?
•• Are chronological markers obtained for comparison with course of disorders (e.g., age when first left home, age of first child)?
•• How are symptoms and symptom severity rated (e.g., categorical ratings of present vs. absent, clinical vs. subclinical, or dimensional ratings of continuous degrees)?
•• Does the interview assess causes of symptoms for the purpose of differential diagnosis or etiological analysis (e.g., potential organic correlates)? 
Is diagnostic information above and beyond that necessary to meet criteria assessed?

Target population

•• Is the interview developed for, validated with, or applicable to the population of interest (e.g., community respondents, primary care patients, psychiatric patients, specific diagnostic groups)?
What translations are available, and what validation has been made with the translated version of interest?

Psychometric features

•• Is the interview sufficiently reliable for the diagnoses and populations of interest?•• What types of reliability have been established (e.g., interrater, test–retest)?•• Are validity data available for the diagnoses and populations of interest?•• Do validity data support the sensitivity of the measure for sub-threshold conditions, if this is a focus of investigation (e.g., in family studies)?
•• What types of validation methods have been used for the interview (e.g., comparisons with expert clinical diagnosis, other well-established structured interviews)?

Practical issues

•• How long does the interview take to administer, particularly in the population of interest?
Estimates often differ significantly for clinical versus nonclinical respondents.
•• Does the interview include a screening module to expedite the assessment?
•• Can disorders of lesser relevance be easily omitted?
•• Is augmentation with other sources of information (e.g., informants, chart data) required or recommended?
•• How feasible is the training required for the interview’s use (e.g., self-administered vs. course-based)? Administration requirements
•• Who can administer the interview (e.g., lay interviewers, mental health professionals)?
•• What are the system requirements for any computer programs required for scoring or administration (e.g., on site vs. off site)?


Backup

•• Are standardized guidelines for administration and scoring available (e.g., user’s manual, algorithms/scoring systems for ascertaining diagnoses)?
•• Are adequate training materials available?
•• Is continued support available for clarification of questions arising from training or the interview’s use?

References

Martin m. Antony & David H. Barlow, 2010, Handbook of assessment and treatment planning for Psychological disorders, Second edition, structured and semi-structured diagnostic interviews, The Guilford Press

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A Combination Approach: The Diagnostic Assessment

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