The use of the Present State Examination in general population surveys

The ninth edition of the Present State Examination (PSE) is a structured interview for eliciting and rating 140 symptoms differentially defined in a glossary. A short version, covering the first 40 “neurotic” symptoms, has been used in several population surveys. An Index of Definition has been designed in order to specify a threshold level below which insufficient symptoms are present to allow a descriptive classification to be made. Above this threshold level the CATEGO computer program can be applied. The system has been used in several sample population surveys and has proved practical and reasonably reliable, adequate for measuring change, and useful for comparative purposes. Its advantages and limitations are discussed.