Personality disorders and patient-informant concordance on DIP-Q self-report in a forensic psychiatric inpatient setting

This study aimed to examine prevalence and patterns of concordance between patients' self-reports and informants' ratings of DSM-IV personality disorders. The screening questionnaire DIP-Q (DSM-IV and ICD-10 Personality Questionnaire) was distributed to 42 inpatients at a forensic psychiatric special hospital. In addition, 42 nursing staff informants filled out the questionnaire with respect to "their" patients. Concordance was found to be low for most of the DSM-TV personality disorders, and the informants generally rated the patients to suffer from more personality pathology than the patients themselves did. The degree of concordance seemed to be related to concomitant Axis I disorders among the patients. Patients' self-reports and informants' reports provide different perspectives on Axis II psychopathology, and patterns of concordance/disconcordance may be linked to treatment course and outcome.