The Goldberg neurotic-psychotic rule and MMPI 2-7-8 patients

In a population of VA Medical Center psychiatric inpatients with 2-7-8 MMPI high point triads, the Goldberg Index (Neurotic-Psychotic) led to lesser, rather than greater, diagnostic accuracy in identifying patients with nonschizophrenic or schizophrenic diagnoses. It was found, however, the Goldberg diagnostic predictions for the 23.4% of the population at the extremes of this dimension (less than 40 or greater than or equal to 100) were quite accurate (86.7% correct), with intermediate cases showing no correspondence between diagnosis and Goldberg score. It was concluded that the Index might be useful if predictions are only made for patients with these extreme scores.