Aim: A wide range of clinical phenomena have been reported with dose reduction or drug discontinuation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) or Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). In 2015, a new classification of SRIs/SNRIs withdrawal (i.e., new withdrawal symptoms, rebound symptoms withdrawal, persistent post-withdrawal disorders) was outlined on the basis of the literature and clinical observations. A semistructured clinical interview, the Diagnostic clinical Interview for Drug Withdrawal 1 - New Symptoms of SSRI and SNRI (DID-W1), was developed for identifying and differentiating such syndromes. Its inter-rater reliability has been tested.
Methods: Seventeen consecutive outpatients with a history of SSRI or SNRI dose reduction or discontinuation were assessed independently by 2 clinicians at different times during the same day. Percent agreement, Cohen’s kappa, and the squared correlation coefficient were used to measure inter-rater reliability.
Results: The percent agreement for the whole interview was 97.06%, the Cohen’s kappa 0.85 (95% CI of 0.61-1.08), the squared correlation coefficient 0.72.
Discussion and conclusions: The kappa values indicated excellent inter-rater agreement. Validity evaluation and comparison with other instruments need to be performed. The DID-W1 may help diagnosing the clinical phenomena related to SSRI and SNRI discontinuation, their differentiation from relapse, and the potential iatrogenic origin of psychiatric symptoms in clinical practice.