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Assessment Instruments in Psychiatry: Description and Psychometric Properties

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Mental Health Outcome Measures

Abstract

Assessment may be defined as the process of applying a systematic method to describe phenomena or objects. Its degree of systematization may vary widely, from merely assigning pre-established codes to algorithmic quantification systems. Assessment may be subjective or objective. Subjective assessment is characterized by the description of hypothetical or intangible elements (e. g., quality of life, depression) as opposed to the tangible entities described by the experimental sciences, such as weight or height, that is, objective assessment. In the health sciences, this differentiation is not always very clear since there is a great deal of individual discretion involved in the interpretation of complex complementary evidence (i. e. histology, imaging diagnosis, neurophysiology). This means that many quality norms are the same for objective and subjective instruments. Subjective assessment is less precie, and has been undervalued until very recently. The growing demand for intangible parameters — such as satisfaction, support, autonomy, quality of life or level of disability — dictates that the use of these instruments is currently essential in any health care field.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cadiz, Edif. cycas 7D, Urb. el Bosque, Jerez de la frontera, E-11405, Cadiz, Spain

    Luis Salvador-Carulla

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  1. Luis Salvador-Carulla
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, PRiSM, SE5 8AF, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK

    Graham Thornicroft

  2. Servizio di Psicologia Medica, Istituto di Psichiatria, Università di Verona, Ospedale Policlinico, I-37134, Verona, Italy

    Michele Tansella

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Salvador-Carulla, L. (1996). Assessment Instruments in Psychiatry: Description and Psychometric Properties. In: Thornicroft, G., Tansella, M. (eds) Mental Health Outcome Measures. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80202-7_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80202-7_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-80204-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-80202-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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