Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:351-355
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
A field trial of DSM-III-R psychoactive substance dependence disorders
BJ Rounsaville, TR Kosten, JB Williams and RL Spitzer
The authors field-tested proposed criteria for diagnoses of psychoactive
substance use disorders in the revision of DSM-III (DSM- III-R) and
compared them with DSM-III criteria in a treated group of 83 patients. They
found a high level of agreement between the diagnostic systems in rates of
diagnosis and in the individuals receiving the diagnosis. The greatest
cross-system agreement occurred when the minimum number of symptoms
required to make the DSM-III-R diagnosis was set at three. Discrepant
diagnoses between systems related to removal of social consequences as a
requirement for the DSM-III-R diagnoses, less emphasis on physiological
tolerance in DSM-III-R, and disagreement in subjects with mild symptoms.
