Use of the Personality Assessment Inventory in Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations of Physicians

This study provides normative data regarding the use of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in physician fitness-for-duty evaluations. Information was derived from a sample of 371 physicians who took the PAI as part of a comprehensive fitness-for-duty evaluation. A multidisciplinary evaluation team, not blinded to psychological testing results, recommended whether or not each physician was fit to practice, allowing for the differentiation of results by this finding. The majority of PAI protocols were valid and interpretively useful. Descriptive statistics are presented for validity, clinical, treatment, interpersonal, and subscale scores. Mean differences for those found fit versus unfit to practice are also presented. Significant elevations for clinical scales are rare in physicians referred for fitness-for-duty evaluations. Although mean differences were small between the fit and unfit groups, there were significant mean differences found. Guidance is offered for interpreting the PAI in this population.