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A Spanish experience of DSM III in a Consultation‐Liaison psychiatric service
Author(s) -
Montero I.,
Sanjuan J.,
Frades B.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1986.tb06280.x
Subject(s) - psychiatry , liaison psychiatry , service (business) , dsm 5 , psychology , adolescent psychiatry , medicine , child and adolescent psychiatry , economy , economics
The authors applied the DSM III diagnosis to 500 patients seen at a Consultation‐Liaison psychiatric service. Compared with similar American studies there was a lower frequency of adjustment and somatoform disorders and a higher proportion of drug abuse cases. Several possible reasons for these differences are mentioned. Although the use of DSM III has clear advantages in a General Hospital context, important difficulties were found: the use of some diagnostic criteria, the absence of a code to relate Axes I and III, the poor systemisation of scores in social Axes IV and V and the lack of a specific category for attempted suicide are but a few of the difficulties encountered. Finally, some modifications of DSM III are suggested in order to improve its clinical usefulness.