Reliability of the Camberwell Assessment of Need for South African mental health service users

Alan Flisher, Katherine Sorsdahl and John Joska

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2012, vol. 58, issue 1, 47-54

Abstract: Background : The Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) is a widely used instrument to assess the service needs for people with a severe mental illness. No reliability data are available for its use in South Africa. Method : Interrater and test-retest reliability were documented for a sub-sample of 194 patients participating in a needs assessment study among people receiving mental health services. Initially, the CAN was administered by one field worker, while another observed and also made ratings. The participant was then re-interviewed approximately one week after the initial interview. Results : With the exception of ‘psychotic symptoms’ ( κ = -0.4) and ‘looking after home’ ( κ = 0.008), Cohen’s κ coefficients for interrater reliability ranged from 0.150 to 0.760 for Section 1 of the CAN. Test-retest reliabilities for Section 1 resulted in moderate to substantial agreement, with Cohen’s κ coefficient ranging from 0.25 to 0.81. High correlations were reported for the test-retest reliabilities of the remaining sections of the CAN ( r = 0.719–0.845). However, the figures for the interrater reliabilities were lower and more variable ( r = −0.082–0.408). Conclusion : The results of this study suggest that with additional interviewer training, the CAN is a relatively reliable instrument for assessing the needs of youths with severe mental illness.

Keywords: epidemiology; mental health services; South Africa; unmet need (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:58:y:2012:i:1:p:47-54

DOI: 10.1177/0020764010382700

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