The use of alcoholic subtype diagnoses in the U.S. Navy

The usefulness of the alcoholic diagnostic subtypes in the DMS II was gauged from the perspective of its descriptive and prognostic meaning. The degree of demographic homogeneity of men within each label, the differences in prognoses on follow-up, the number of men labeled "Other (and Unspecified)" and the relevance of the present system to the previous diagnostic subtypes was evaluated. It was concluded that from these perspectives the alcoholic subtype system of the DMS II adds little, if anything, beyond the basic diagnosis of alcoholism as outlined by the National Council on Alcoholism Criteria.