DSM-III disorders in a large sample of psychiatric patients: frequency and specificity of diagnoses

This study examined certain nosological features of DSM-III axis I diagnostic categories and subcategories as applied to 11,292 general psychiatric patients presenting for care, using a semistructured assessment procedure. The most frequently used major categories were affective, substance use, childhood-onset, and adjustment disorders. Secondary diagnoses were given to 26% of the patients. Male patients predominated in the categories of impulse-control, psychosexual, and substance use disorders, and female patients predominated in the categories of anxiety, affective, and somatoform disorders. Of the 329 five-digit subcategories available in DSM-III, 296 (90%) were actually used. Sixteen percent of the patients were given unspecific primary diagnoses.