Ethnicity and reporting of schizophrenic symptoms

Eighty-one clinically diagnosed (DSM-III) Hispanic and Anglo schizophrenic subjects were evaluated with a structured diagnostic interview, the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule (NIMH-DIS), and a battery of rating instruments (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impressions, Global Assessment Scale, and Hopkins Symptom Checklist 90 [SCL-90]). The authors examined: a) consistency in reporting of symptoms across different instruments administered in different formats and b) the importance of ethnic background in consistency of responses to the different instruments. A subgroup of patients (23% of total) "denied" lifetime schizophrenic symptoms in the lay interviewer-administered structured interview ("DIS negative" schizophrenic subjects). The proportion of DIS negative subjects was very similar across the two ethnic groups. However, responses by DIS negative schizophrenic subjects to a self-rating instrument (SCL-90) were significantly different for Hispanic and Anglo subjects. A subgroup of Anglo subjects denied symptoms in the DIS, but volunteered them in the self-rating instrument. Responses of Hispanic subjects were consistent regardless of format.