Do the IPDE and the MCMI-II assess the same personality disorders in patients with eating disorders?1

The present ex post facto study aims to find out the prevalence of personality disorders (PD) in patients with eating disorders (ED) and to determine the concordance between the IPDE and MCMI-II to assess PDs in patients with an ED. Using the International Personality Disorders Examination (IPDE) and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) it was compared the personality profile in 84 outpatients with eating disorders. The statistical analyses have been carried out using Kappa statistic, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. The 54.8% of the overall sample met criteria for at least one personality disorder on the IPDE and 77.4% met the criteria on the MCMI-II. The concordance between the two measures was only marginal. The MCMI-II tend to overdiagnose specific PDs, so it is not a good assessment measure for doing PDs diagnosis. This fact is a challenge for the clinical evaluation, so implications for further research in this area are commented upon.