Homeless Supplement to the Diagnostic Interview Schedule
Instrument name: The Homeless Supplement to the Diagnostic Interview Schedule| To obtain the instrument: | Contact Carol S. North, MD, MPE UT Southwestern Medical Center Department of Psychiatry 6363 Forest Park Rd. Dallas, TX 75390-8828 email: carol.north@utsouthwestern.edu |
Citation(s):
Smith EM, North CS, and Spitznagel EL. (1992). A systematic study of mental illness, substance abuse, and treatment in 600 homeless men. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 4, 111-120.
North CS, Eyrich KM, Pollio DE, Foster DA, Cottler LB, and Spitznagel EL (2004) The Homeless Supplement to the Diagnostic Interview Test Schedule: test retest analyses. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(3), 184-191. Click here for text
Purpose: To obtain information on the longitudinal course of homelessness, precipitants of homelessness, shelter use, transience, and recent residential history.
Population: Homeless adults
Publication date(s): 1992, 2004
Domain: Housing history
Administration: Structured interview
Reliability and validity information: Intra-class correlation coefficients for numerical variables: 0.52<r<0.90; kappa values for categorical values: 0.39<k<0.85 (see North, CS et al. (2004). The homeless supplement to the diagnostic interview schedule: Test-retest analyses. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13, 3, 184-191
Item description/response options: There are 91 structured items with the following breakdowns: longitudinal course, 13 items; precipitants of homelessness, 14 items; shelter history, 6 items; transience, 13 items; and residential history, 45 items.
Description of the original study: Six hundred homeless men from shelters and streets in St. Louis, MO, were interviewed using a modified Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). The DIS was modified specifically for use with homeless individuals, eliciting information on the respondents' duration and pattern of homelessness. The study also elicited information on mental illness, substance use and service utilization.
