Ethnic Differences in the Reliability and Validity of a Panic Disorder Screen

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the reliability and validity of the Brief Panic Disorder Screen (BPDS) in samples of African American and Caucasian American primary care patients. Methods. The BPDS was administered to 295 patients scheduled to visit a primary care clinic for medical reasons. The presence or absence of a panic disorder diagnosis was established during a clinical interview with a psychiatrist. Measures of reliability (internal consistency) and validity (criterion validity) were compared between the two ethnic subgroups. Findings. The BPDS demonstrated greater reliability and validity for Caucasians than African Americans. This effect was maintained even after controlling for group differences in key demographic variables. Differences between ethnic groups were apparent in both those with and those without panic disorder (PD). BPDS responses of African Americans with PD demonstrated very low internal consistency whereas a high rate of false positive PD diagnoses was related...