Usefulness of DSM-III axis III in psychiatric inpatients: An actuarial comparison with the DSM-II period

This study is a retrospective evaluation of the usefulness of DSM-III axis III (physical disorders) and its ability to enhance clinical case description in general psychiatric patients. The subjects of this study consisted of two samples of 75 inpatients; each was randomly selected and age-matched to represent DSM-II (1975-1979) and DSM-III (1981-1985) periods, respectively. The results indicated a substantial and statistically significant difference in the frequency of physical disorders recorded at intake before (9.3%) and after (46.7%) the implementation of DSM-III. DSM-III axis III may significantly enhance the recording of physical disorders in psychiatric inpatients.