Clinically useful screen for borderline personality disorder in psychiatric out-patients. (February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zimmerman, Mark; Multach, Matthew D.; Dalrymple, Kristy; Chelminski, Iwona
• Is Part Of: British journal of psychiatry. Volume 210:Number 2(2017)
• Page Start: 165
• Page End: 166
• Publication Date: 2017-02
• Subjects: Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychology, Pathological -- Periodicals; 616.89005
• DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.116.182121
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-1250

Abstract

Summary: A total of 3674 psychiatric out-patients were evaluated with a semi-structured diagnostic interview for DSM-IV borderline personality disorder (BPD). The affective instability criterion had a sensitivity of 92.8%, higher than the sensitivities of the other eight BPD criteria. The negative predictive value of the affective instability criterion was 99%. We recommend that clinicians screen for BPD in the same way that they screen for other psychiatric disorders: by enquiring about a single feature of the disorder (i.e. affective instability), the presence of which identifies most patients with the disorder and the absence of which rules out the disorder.