The reliability of the Standard for Clinicians' Interview in Psychiatry (SCIP): A clinician-administered tool with categorical, dimensional and numeric output

• Published in: Schizophrenia research 2014-07, Vol.156 (2), p.174-183
• Main Authors: Aboraya, Ahmed, El-Missiry, Ahmed, Barlowe, Johnna, John, Collin, Ebrahimian, Alireza, Muvvala, Srinivas, Brandish, Ja’me, Mansour, Hader, Zheng, Wanhong, Chumber, Paramjit, Berry, James, Elswick, Daniel, Hill, Cheryl, Swager, Lauren, Abo elez, Warda, Ashour, Hala, Haikal, Amal, Eissa, Ahmed, Rabie, Menan, El-Missiry, Marwa, El Sheikh, Mona, Hassan, Dina, Ragab, Sherif, Sabry, Mohamed, Hendawy, Heba, Abdel Rahman, Rola, Radwan, Doaa, Sherif, Mohamed, Abou El Asaad, Marwa, Khalil, Sherien, Hashim, Reem, Border, Katherine, Menguito, Roberto, France, Cheryl, Hu, Wei, Shuttleworth, Olivia, Price, Elizabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Biological and medical sciences; Canada; diagnostic criteria; dimensional scores; Egypt; Female; Hospitals; Humans; Inpatients; Interview, Psychological - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Psychiatric interview; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reproducibility of Results; Software; standardized diagnostic interviews; Techniques and methods; United States
• ISSN: 0920-9964; 1573-2509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.04.025

Abstract Background Existing standardized diagnostic interviews are not used by psychiatrists in clinical settings. There is an urgent need for a clinician-administered tool for assessment of adult psychopathology that produces dimensional measures, in addition to categorical diagnoses. Methods The Standard for Clinicians' Interview in Psychiatry (SCIP) was designed to be used in clinical settings and generates dimensional measures. The reliability of the SCIP was tested at six sites: one hospital and two clinics in USA, two hospitals in Egypt and one clinic in Canada. Participants were adult patients who were admitted for inpatient psychiatric treatment or came for regular office visits in the outpatient clinic. Refusal rate was < 1%. Missing data were < 1.1%. Patients with dementia, mental retardation or serious medical conditions were excluded. A total of 1,004 subjects were interviewed between 2000 and 2012. Results Inter-rater reliability (Kappa) was measured for 150 SCIP items: 116 items (77.3%) had good reliability (Kappa > 0.7), 28 items (18.7%) had fair reliability (Kappa ranges from 0.5 to 0.7) and six items (4%) had poor reliability (Kappa < 0.5). Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was measured for the SCIP dimensions: anxiety, posttraumatic stress, depression, mania, hallucinations, Schneider first-rank symptoms, delusions, disorganized thoughts, disorganized behavior, negative symptoms, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, attention and hyperactivity. All of the SCIP dimensions had substantial Cronbach's alpha values (> 0.7) with the exception of disorganized thoughts (Cronbach's alpha = 0.375). Conclusions The SCIP is a reliable tool for assessing psychological symptoms, signs and dimensions of the main psychiatric diagnoses.