Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:1197-1199
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
A comparison of two methods of diagnosing hysteria
R Kimble, JG Williams and S Agras
The authors compare the syndrome of hysteria, defined as or indicated by a
specified response to a 55-item symptom checklist previously used by Guze
and other researchers, with the definition of hysterical personality in the
second edition of APA's Diagnostic and statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-II). When 20 control subjects and 10 hysterical
personalities (DSM-II) were given the Perley-Guze test, the results showed
a close correlation between positive scores on the symptom checklist and
the DMS-II diagnosis. The authors comment briefly on the theoretical
usefulness and practicality of the test and note some difficulties in
administration.
