Reliability (Clin)

Question 1

what is reliability?

Answer 1

the consitency of measurments

Question 2

two main types in clinical

what is Inter-rater reliability?

Answer 2

Refers to whether the same set of symptoms would get the same diagnosis from different psychiatrists.

Question 3

two main types in clinical

what is Test-retest reliability/intra-rater reliability?

Answer 3

A diagnosis is reliable if the diagnosis is consistent over two different time periods for the same patient using the same psychiatrist.

Question 4

EVALUATION

Evaluate one strength of reliability

Answer 4

I - There evidence to suggest that diagnosis using both DSM V and ICD 10 have impressive levels of agreement between clinicians.
J - Brown (2001), tested reliability of diagnoses of mood disorders + anxiety using DSM IV + found it to be ‘excellent’. Galeazzi et al (2004) found high inter- rater reliability for clinicians using ICD-10 to conduct a joint interview.
E - demonstrates usefulness of reliable diagnoses as it encourages confidence in clinicians making a consistent diagnosis.

Question 5

EVALUATION

Evaluate a second strength of reliability

Answer 5

I - There also evidence to suggest that using diagnostic tools such as DSM give same diagnosis when used over long time period (test-retest reliability).
J - Research evidence by Brown et al. (2011) demonstrates that DSM-IV has excellent reliability scores for multiple mental health disorders. test-retest reliability scores for specific phobias are at 0.7 and for OCD it is at 0.75.
E - Therefore, suggests that DSM is reliable diagnostic tool that can consistently identify mental health disorders in individuals over time.

Question 6

EVALUATION

Evaluate one weakness of reliability

Answer 6

I - Although some studies suggest that diagnosis using DSM is not reliable for all disorders
J - Regier (2013) found that majour depressive disorder had a poor reliability score of 0.2, meaning there was 20% agreement between clinicians
E - This problematic as it means for some disorders, many patients may not be diagnoses or be misdiagnosed leadign to incorrect treatment or no treatment at all

Question 7

EVALUATION

Evaluate a second weakness of reliability

Answer 7

I - Reassessment scores for some disorders show major variations in diagnosis.
J - In trials of ‘new’ DSM 5, Kupfer found that major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder both had low reliability scores.
E - means for some diagnosis, this could be different each time they visit clinician making diagnosis unreliable.

HOWEVER – Questions over self report nature of information gathered through interviews can lead to social desirablilty bias + may make symptoms sound worse + they lie to achieve more wanted results. People make feel uncomfortable talking to strangers about mental health, may not diagnose symptom