A study of ICD-10 diagnostic assignment among psychologists in a Salvadoran hospital

Abstract

Objective. To describe the psychiatric diagnoses made by psychologists at a secondary hospital in San Salvador. Methodology. A cross-sectional descriptive study of 307 adolescent (≤18 years old) mental health consults provided at the National Hospital "Enfermera Angélica Vidal de Najarro." Consults from 2014 to 2016 appearing in a handwritten registry were typed up for analysis. Multinomial logistic regression and global chi-squared tests were used to evaluate diagnostic assignment by ICD-10 block in relation to three professional psychologists, controlling for the potentially confounding effects of age and sex of the patient, date of visit, and hospital service requesting the consult. Results. In the adjusted multinomial model, the global chi-squared for the effect of each psychologist was statistically significant, and the effect of each individual psychologist showed outcome specificity when diagnostic blocks F30-39 were compared with blocks F40-49, which were the most prevalent ICD-10 blocks in the sample. The adjusted probability values by ICD-10 diagnostic block suggest quantitative variability in diagnostic patterns by the psychologist providing the diagnosis. Conclusions. Signs of a significant variation in ICD-10 block diagnostic assignment was detected among psychologists working in an urban secondary hospital in San Salvador.