Dissociative disorders in Dutch psychiatric inpatients

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorders in Dutch psychiatric inpatients.

Method: During a period of 12 months, 122 consecutively admitted adult psychiatric patients were screened with the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Patients scoring 25 and higher and a random selection of patients scoring lower than 25 were blindly interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders, Revised. Interviews were scored independently by a blind rater.

Results: Ten (8%) of the 122 patients were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder; two (2%) were diagnosed as having a dissociative identity disorder. Two patients (2%) had factitious dissociative identity disorder.

Conclusions: The rate of dissociative disorders in this group of Dutch patients is comparable to the rates reported in other European studies but lower than rates reported in North American studies.