TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of proposed diagnostic criteria for pathological grief using a sample of elderly bereaved spouses in Denmark
T2 - Perspectives on future bereavement research
AU - O'Connor, Maja
AU - Lasgaard, Mathias
AU - Larsen, Lene
AU - Johannsen, Maja
AU - Lundorff, Marie
AU - Farver-Vestergaard, Ingeborg
AU - Boelen, Paul A.
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - Background: A distinct grief-specific disorder is included in the ICD-11. Lack of clarity remains regarding whether different proposed diagnostic criteria capture similar or different diagnostic entities. Our aim was to examine the specificity of four proposed diagnostic criteria-sets for pathological grief in a population-based sample. Methods: Participants were 206 conjugally bereaved elderly Danes (59% female; mean age = 72.5 years, SD = 4.2; range 65–81) who completed self-report questionnaires six months post-loss. The main measure was the Danish version of Inventory of Complicated Grief-Revised. Results: Results indicate substantial agreement between Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) and ICD-11-PGD (kappa's = 0.69–0.84), which found 6–9% of cases tested positive for pathological grief. Complicated Grief (CG) was partly in agreement with the three other symptom-diagnostic tests (kappa's = 0.13–0.20), and the prevalence-rate of pathological grief was 48%. Limitations: The low response-rate of 39%. The selective inclusion of data ≥6 months post-loss prevents a comparison of acute and prolonged grief reactions. Using self-reported data, not diagnostic interviews, challenges the validity of our findings. Using a sample of elderly people may limit the generalizability of our results to other age groups. Conclusion: We suggest that PGD, PCBD and ICD-11-PGD may be more discriminative in identifying a specific grief-related psychopathology, while CG may identify a broader set of grief reactions.
AB - Background: A distinct grief-specific disorder is included in the ICD-11. Lack of clarity remains regarding whether different proposed diagnostic criteria capture similar or different diagnostic entities. Our aim was to examine the specificity of four proposed diagnostic criteria-sets for pathological grief in a population-based sample. Methods: Participants were 206 conjugally bereaved elderly Danes (59% female; mean age = 72.5 years, SD = 4.2; range 65–81) who completed self-report questionnaires six months post-loss. The main measure was the Danish version of Inventory of Complicated Grief-Revised. Results: Results indicate substantial agreement between Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) and ICD-11-PGD (kappa's = 0.69–0.84), which found 6–9% of cases tested positive for pathological grief. Complicated Grief (CG) was partly in agreement with the three other symptom-diagnostic tests (kappa's = 0.13–0.20), and the prevalence-rate of pathological grief was 48%. Limitations: The low response-rate of 39%. The selective inclusion of data ≥6 months post-loss prevents a comparison of acute and prolonged grief reactions. Using self-reported data, not diagnostic interviews, challenges the validity of our findings. Using a sample of elderly people may limit the generalizability of our results to other age groups. Conclusion: We suggest that PGD, PCBD and ICD-11-PGD may be more discriminative in identifying a specific grief-related psychopathology, while CG may identify a broader set of grief reactions.
KW - Complicated grief
KW - Diagnostic specificity
KW - DSM-5
KW - ICD-11-PGD
KW - Persistent complex bereavement disorder
KW - Prolonged grief disorder
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062282121&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.056
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.056
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 30903989
AN - SCOPUS:85062282121
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 251
SP - 52
EP - 59
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
IS - May
ER -