A Comparative Psychometric Assessment of Psychogeriatric and Geriatric Patients
DAPHNE W. COWAN B.A.1,
PATRICIA M. WRIGHT B.A.1,
A. J. GOURLAY M.A.2,
A. SMITH M.Sc.3,
G. BARRON M.A.3,
J. DE GRUCHY B.A., C.Q.S.W.3,
J. R. M. COPELAND M.B., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.Psych.4,
M. J. KELLEHER M.D., B.Sc., M.Phil., M.R.C.Psych.4, and
J. M. KELLETT M.B., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.Psych.3
1 Research Psychologist, U.S./U.K. Diagnostic Project, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF
2 Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF
3 Research Worker, U.S./U.K. Diagnostic Project, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF
4 Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospital., Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF
A battery of psychological tests was administered on three occasions over a three-month period to 75 patients admitted to a geriatric hospital and 75 patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals serving the same catchment area. The test results, used as an independent criterion, provided evidence that the criteria of psychiatric diagnosis were applied with constancy and accuracy in the two types of hospital, and supported the psychiatrists' findings that there were no strong grounds to believe that elderly patients were being `misplaced' in one or other type of hospital facility.
Submitted on June 7, 1974
