INTERRATER RELIABILITY OF DIAGNOSIS, AMP SYNDROMES AND AMP SYMPTOMS

Psychic disorders can be classified into three levels: symptom, syndrome, and diagnosis. For each of these levels of reference, interrater reliability has been calculated. For this purpose, 48 patients (25 depressives and 23 schizophrenics) were interviewed by two raters each and the diagnoses were registered on the AMP system (forms 3 and 4). Additionally, each rather made an ICD diagnosis. With ICD numbers of three digits interrater reliability amounted to Kappa = 0.84; with ICD numbers of four digits it amounted to Kappa = 0.65. According to the degree of accuracy, numerical agreement with the AMP syndromes lies between Kappa = 0.61 and 0.85. Single symptoms had the lowest reliability (median: Kappa 0.45 and 0.53). Reasons for these differences and possibilities for improvement are discussed. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.