Diagnosis of sz

• One strength of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is good reliability. This means there is consistency between clinicians . Osorio et al reports excellent reliability when using the DSM-5
• One limitation of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is low validity. Criterion validity involves seeing whether different processes 1) predict the same outcome 2) are measuring the same thing. Cheinaux et al had two 12-month follow-up studies of 100 patients with schizophrenia and 100 matched controls.
• Cheinaux et al found that only 46% of those diagnosed with schizophrenia met criteria at both assessments, suggesting poor criterion validity. The other 54% were misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia.
• One limitation is co-morbidity with other conditions. Schizophrenia is often diagnosed with other conditions. Buckley et al. found that 50% of patients with schizophrenia had a diagnosis of depression, 47% with substance abuse and 23% with OCD. This means schizophrenia may not act as an issue on its ow.
• Fisher and Buchanan claimed men are diagnosed with women 10% of the time. This is because men are more vunerable or women have more social support. This means women with schizophrenia are not diagnosed so miss out on help.