TY - JOUR

T1 - Clinical utility of Standardised Assessment of Personality - Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) among patients with first episode depression

AU - Bukh, Jens Drachmann

AU - Bock, Camilla

AU - Vinberg, Maj

AU - Gether, Ulrik

AU - Kessing, Lars Vedel

N1 - Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2010/12/1

Y1 - 2010/12/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Personality disorder frequently co-occurs with depression and seems to be associated with a poorer outcome of treatment and increased risk for recurrences. However, the diagnosing of personality disorder can be lengthy and requires some training. Therefore, a brief screening interview for comorbid personality disorder among patients suffering from depression would be of clinical use. METHOD: The present study aimed to assess the utility of the Standardised Assessment of Personality - Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) as a screen for personality disorder in a population of patients recently diagnosed with first episode depression. A total number of 394 patients with an ICD-10 diagnosis of a single depressive episode were sampled consecutively via the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register during a 2years inclusion period and assessed by the screening interview and, subsequently, by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. RESULTS: We found, that a cut-off of 3 on the screen correctly identified the presence of comorbid personality disorder in 73.1% of the patients. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.80 and 0.70, respectively. LIMITATIONS: The findings cannot be generalized to patients outside hospital settings. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence for the clinical utility of SAPAS as a screening interview for comorbid personality disorder in a population of patients with a primary diagnosis of depression.

AB - BACKGROUND: Personality disorder frequently co-occurs with depression and seems to be associated with a poorer outcome of treatment and increased risk for recurrences. However, the diagnosing of personality disorder can be lengthy and requires some training. Therefore, a brief screening interview for comorbid personality disorder among patients suffering from depression would be of clinical use. METHOD: The present study aimed to assess the utility of the Standardised Assessment of Personality - Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) as a screen for personality disorder in a population of patients recently diagnosed with first episode depression. A total number of 394 patients with an ICD-10 diagnosis of a single depressive episode were sampled consecutively via the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register during a 2years inclusion period and assessed by the screening interview and, subsequently, by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. RESULTS: We found, that a cut-off of 3 on the screen correctly identified the presence of comorbid personality disorder in 73.1% of the patients. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.80 and 0.70, respectively. LIMITATIONS: The findings cannot be generalized to patients outside hospital settings. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence for the clinical utility of SAPAS as a screening interview for comorbid personality disorder in a population of patients with a primary diagnosis of depression.

KW - Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

KW - Adult

KW - Aged

KW - Ambulatory Care

KW - Comorbidity

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Depressive Disorder

KW - Mass Screening

KW - Personality Assessment

KW - Personality Disorders

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Psychometrics

KW - Registries

U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2010.05.023

DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2010.05.023

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20579743

VL - 127

SP - 199

EP - 202

JO - Journal of Affective Disorders

JF - Journal of Affective Disorders

SN - 0165-0327

IS - 1-3

ER -