Comparative study of diagnostic systems: Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders-Second Edition versus DSM-III-R

We report on the diagnostic comparative study of the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders-Second Edition (CCMD-2) and the DSM-III-R in a field trial in China. The Adult Diagnostic Interview Schedule-Second Edition (ADIS-2), a modified diagnostic interview schedule that can generate both CCMD-2 and DSM-III-R diagnoses, was used to test 254 psychiatric patients in China. It was found that the reliability and validity of the CCMD-2 and DSM-III-R are compatible in most diagnostic categories such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder, bipolar disorders, and depressive disorders. The discrepancies between Chinese and American diagnostic systems were found mainly in neurasthenia and hysterical neuroses. Such discrepancies may have resulted from frequent changes of the diagnostic terms in the West, such as the phenomenon of neurasthenia, or from creating a new disorder entity in CCMD-2, such as "Eastern gymnastic exercises-induced mental disorder. "Further cross-cultural studies focusing on these discrepant disorders are urgently needed to understand the cultural influences on diagnosis, as well as to improve the professional classification of mental disorders in different diagnostic systems.