Objective: To review and summarize data on the prevalence of overall
personality disorder extracted from SCID-II (Structured Clinical
Interview for DSM-III Axis II Disorders) studies conducted in Turkey
with samples consisting of mental health consumers, and also to
elaborate on the level and sources of heterogeneity.
Method: MEDLINE, WOS, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect databases as well
as the Turkish Psychiatric Database have been systematically searched.
Relevant studies conducted with samples composed of psychiatric
inpatients or outpatients receiving psychiatric treatment were included.
The diagnostic rate of any personality disorder was regarded as the valid
indicator of the overall personality disorder prevalence; therefore, papers
presenting data not conducive to this goal were excluded.
Results: A total of 311 papers were identified, and 55 studies were
included in the qualitative synthesis. Following a critical appraisal of the
quality of the data involving point prevalence rates ranging from 20%
to 100%, we decided to include 35 studies in the quantitative synthesis.
A random-effects meta-analysis followed by a subgroup analysis yielded
a summary estimate of 52% [46 – 58%] for the prevalence of overall
personality disorder. A high level of overall heterogeneity 84.8 % [80.0 -
88.4] was found to persist in each diagnostic subgroup with a particular
primary diagnosis.
Conclusion: The prevalence estimates derived from the meta-analysis
of the SCID-II studies conducted in Turkey support the notion that
personality disorder is present in nearly half of the mental health service
consumers. That the level of heterogeneity across studies originating
from Turkey alone was as high as those observed in previous reviews
covering studies originating from various countries suggests that the
very source of such heterogeneity might be questionable validity and
reliability of SCID-II diagnoses.
Keywords: Personality disorders, prevalence, meta-analysis