Interrater reliability of the DSM-III diagnoses in two Norwegian studies on psychiatric and super obese patients

Abstract

Two Norwegian psychiatrists classified independently according to DSM-III, 45 patients drawn at random from two populations: one of psychiatric patients (N = 161) and one of super obese surgical patients (N = 71). They interviewed the patients and listened to each other's audio-taped interviews afterwards. In the total group, on axis I the overall agreement was 78 percent (kappa = 0.74). On axis II, the overall agreement was 81 percent (kappa = 0.68). The study shows that by using the DSM-III, two Norwegian psychiatrists obtained good diagnostic reliability.