Frequency of dissociative disorders among psychiatric inpatients in a Turkish University Clinic

The aim of this study was to determine the rate of dissociative disorders among psychiatric inpatients in a university clinic in Turkey.

The Dissociative Experiences Scale was used to screen 166 consecutive inpatients admitted to the psychiatry clinic of a university hospital. The patients who had scores higher than 30 were matched for age and gender with 19 of the patients who scored below 10 on the scale. The patients in both groups were then interviewed with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule by interviewers who were blind to their diagnoses and scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Patients who were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder according to the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule were then interviewed by a clinician.

Twenty-four (14.5%) of the 166 patients had a score higher than 30 on the Dissociative Experiences Scale; 17 patients (10.2%) were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder according to the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule. Nine patients (5.4%) had clinically confirmed dissociative identity disorder.

A considerable proportion of the psychiatric inpatients in a Turkish university psychiatry clinic had dissociative disorder. Clinicians who work in general psychiatric inpatient units should be alert for chronic complex dissociative disorders.