The International Personality Disorder Examination

TLDR

The World Health Organization and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration aim to develop and standardize diagnostic assessment instruments for worldwide clinical research. The study reports a field trial investigating the feasibility of using the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) to assess personality disorders globally. The IPDE was administered by 58 clinicians to 716 patients across 14 centers in 11 countries, with interrater reliability assessed on 141 interviews and temporal stability evaluated on 243 patients reexamined after an average 6‑month interval. The IPDE proved acceptable to clinicians and demonstrated interrater reliability and temporal stability comparable to instruments for psychoses, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, indicating that personality disorders can be reliably assessed across nations, languages, and cultures with this semistructured interview.

Abstract

<h3>Background:</h3> One of the aims of the World Health Organization/Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration joint program on psychiatric diagnosis and classification is the development and standardization of diagnostic assessment instruments for use in clinical research worldwide. The International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) is a semistructured clinical interview compatible with the<i>International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision</i>, and the<i>DMS-III-R</i>classification systems. This is the first report of the results of a field trial to investigate the feasibility of using the IPDE to assess personality disorders worldwide. <h3>Methods:</h3> The IPDE was administered by 58 psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to 716 patients enrolled in clinical facilities at 14 participating centers in 11 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. To determine interrater reliability, 141 of the IPDEs (20%) were independently rated by a silent observer. To determine temporal stability, 243 patients (34%) were reexamined after an average interval of 6 months. <h3>Results:</h3> The IPDE proved acceptable to clinicians and demonstrated an interrater reliability and temporal stability roughly similar to instruments used to diagnose the psychoses, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> It is possible to assess personality disorders with reasonably good reliability in different nations, languages, and cultures using a semistructured clinical interview that experienced clinicians find relevant, meaningful, and user-friendly.