The utility of the MCMI as a DSM-III Axis I diagnostic tool

The present study examined the utility of the MCMI as a provider of DSM-III Axis I diagnostic hypotheses with a heterogeneous psychiatric inpatient population. Participants represented 31 consecutive referrals made to the psychology department for a clinical and/or diagnostic assessment from a psychiatric rehabilitation unit. Three independent diagnoses derived from the MCMI, a structured interview (DIS), and an unstructured psychiatric interview were obtained for each participant. The percentage agreement between the two criterion diagnoses was 54.8%. Agreement between the MCMI and criterion diagnoses was, at best, 15% for those cases that had an Axis I diagnosis. These findings are in keeping with past research and support the contention that the MCMI is not a useful tool in generating clinically correct or meaningful DSM-III Axis I diagnostic hypotheses.