Initial validation of the Russian version of the World Mental Health Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV

The Structured Clinical Interview for DSMIV (SCID) is a highly reliable diagnostic instrument used worldwide. However, there is little data as to its reliability and validity outside of the U.S.

To create a Russian version of the World Mental Health (WMH) SCID and to test its validity among Russian Jewish emigres in the U.S.

The author, a bilingual Board Certified psychiatrist who has been trained in the application of the original English SCID and WMH SCID, supervised the translation and adaptation of the WMH SCID into Russian. A convenience sample, consisting of 35 subjects, was interviewed by two clinicians trained by the author, yielding 54 diagnoses. All interviews were audio taped and blindly reviewed by the author, who served as the gold standard.

32 subjects met criteria for one or more of 11 DSMIV depressive and anxiety disorder diagnoses. There was very good inter-rater agreement; median kappa was 0.75; seven disorders had kappas ranging from .65 (Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) to 1.0 (dysthymia and agoraphobia). Sensitivity was 88.9% and specificity was 77.1 %, compared to the "gold standard" diagnosis.

Initial data suggest that the Russian version of the WMH SCID is a valid instrument.