Experiences with a checklist for DSM-III-R in the Russian Federation and Belarus. A study about the interrater reliability and the concurrent validity of the Munich Diagnostic Checklist for DSM-III-R.

The interrater reliability of the Munich Diagnostic Checklist (MDCL) was assessed in a small clinical sample and two population samples in the Russian Federation and Belarus. A team of Russian and Belarussian psychiatrists made DSM-III-R diagnoses, using the MDCL as the basis for a standardized interview. The interrater reliability was found to be satisfactory (kappa = 0.86 for case vs non-case distinction). In the population samples, the interviewing psychiatrist, in addition to making a DSM-III-R diagnosis, classified each respondent on a checklist of 11 clinical syndromes familiar to Russian psychiatry and made a severity rating. The overall concurrent validity indices based on the comparison of these diagnostic ratings were fairly high (kappa 0.48-0.82), suggesting considerable agreement between the DSM-III-R and traditional Russian diagnostic concepts.