A format for DSM-III diagnostic formulation: experience with 1,111 consecutive patients

The authors present a format that organizes DMS-III diagnoses according to its five axes. For each axis, it provides an ordered listing of several diagnostic categories, their qualification as principal or provisional diagnoses, and alternative categories to be ruled out. For each dimensional axis, the terms and codes of the scale are specified and arranged linearly. This format was used with 1,111 new patients who consecutively applied for care at a comprehensive psychiatric facility during a 6-month period. The authors report on the frequency of use of specific diagnostic categories and dimensional levels along provisional, and rule-out diagnoses were noted.