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Prevalence of personality disorder in the case-load of an inner-city assertive outreach team

Academic Specialist Registrar, Department of Psychological Medicine, Imperial College, London

Caroline Methuen

Specialist Registrar, Central North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, London

Deborah Rutter

Research Associate, Imperial College, London

Bharti Rao

Assistant Statistician, Imperial College, London

Peter Tyrer

Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, Imperial College, St Dunstan’s Road, London W6 8RP

Declaration of interest

None.

AIMS AND METHOD

The aim was to record the prevalence, type and severity of personality disorder dealt with by an inner-city outreach team. Patients on the register of an assertive outreach team were approached and asked to give informed consent for an informant interview with their principal worker to determine their personality status, using the informant-based ICD–10 version of the Personality Assessment Schedule.

RESULTS

Of the 73 patients, 62 (85%) of whom had a psychotic diagnosis, 67 (92%) had at least one personality disorder, with 37 (51%) having complex or severe personality disorders.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The findings suggest that the National Service Framework requirements for assertive outreach teams tend to select many patients with comorbid personality disorder in addition to other severe psychiatric disorders.

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