Reliability and cultural applicability of the Greek version of the International Personality Disorders Examination.

BACKGROUND: The International Personality Disorders Examination (IPDE) constitutes the proposal of the WHO for the reliable diagnosis of personality disorders (PD). The IPDE assesses pathological personality and is compatible both with DSM-IV and ICD-10 diagnosis. However it is important to test the reliability and cultural applicability of different IPDE translations. METHODS: Thirty-one patients (12 male and 19 female) aged 35.25 ± 11.08 years, took part in the study. Three examiners applied the interview (23 interviews of two and 8 interviews of 3 examiners, that is 47 pairs of interviews and 70 single interviews). The phi coefficient was used to test categorical diagnosis agreement and the Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient to test agreement concerning the number of criteria met. RESULTS: Translation and back-translation did not reveal specific problems. Results suggested that reliability of the Greek translation is good. However, socio-cultural factors (family coherence, work environment etc) could affect the application of some of the IPDE items in Greece. The diagnosis of any PD was highly reliable with phi >0.92. However, diagnosis of non-specfic PD was not reliable at all (phi close to 0) suggesting that this is a true residual category. Dianosis of specific PDs were highly reliable with the exception of schizoid PD. Diagnosis of antisocial and Borderline PDs were perfectly reliable with phi equal to 1.00. CONCLUSIONS: The Greek translation of the IPDE is a reliable instrument for the assessment of personality disorder but cultural variation may limit its applicability in international comparisons.