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Measurement Issues: Is standardised diagnostic assessment feasible as an adjunct to clinical practice? A systematic review
Author(s) -
Reeves Katie,
Charter Ella,
Ford Tamsin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
child and adolescent mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1475-3588
pISSN - 1475-357X
DOI - 10.1111/camh.12089
Subject(s) - adjunct , clinical practice , psychopathology , mental health , medicine , systematic review , psychiatry , medline , clinical trial , psychology , family medicine , pathology , philosophy , linguistics , political science , law
Background A standardised diagnostic assessment ( SDA ) is a comprehensive assessment of psychiatric disorder that provides a label according to established diagnostic criteria. While standardised assessments are considered essential in child and adolescent mental health research, they are rarely applied systematically in routine clinical practice. Method A systematic review of studies that assessed the utility, feasibility and acceptability of SDA s in the assessment of psychopathology among children and young people in routine clinical practice. Results Eight papers were identified that applied mixed research methods. Overall, attitudes towards SDA s were positive, with lack of training in administration and interpretation of SDA s and a concern for the validity of diagnostic categories being key barriers. Two randomised control trials and a case series suggest that SDA s might aid the detection of emotional disorders in particular. Conclusion The current evidence is not yet sufficient to recommend that SDA s should be universally adopted as an adjunct to clinical practice, but our findings suggest that can they be used if applied cautiously and mindfully pending further evaluation.