Validity and reliability of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview in Sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-country comparison study.

Background: Diagnostic tools, such as the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) 7.0.2 and the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5 (SCID), aim to increase the validity and reliability of diagnostic assessment. However, these tools were created in high-income countries (HICs) with limited investigation of the psychometrics of these tools when used in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, there is a need to examine the psychometric properties of these measures in LMICs. The present investigation aimed to examine the use of the MINI in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.

Methods: A multicountry comparison of the validity and reliability of the MINI was conducted in a study of 954 participants ( = 667 cases;  = 287 controls) with and without a psychotic spectrum disorder, defined as any psychotic or bipolar spectrum disorder for the NeuroGAP - Psychosis study. Test-retest reliability of the MINI was examined in a subset of 303 participants ( = 164 cases;  = 139 controls) from the overall sample.

Results: Results revealed the MINI and SCID provided excellent diagnostic accuracy with area under the curve (AUC) values of .91 ( = .01) for the MINI and .95 ( = .01) for the SCID. Positive predictive values (PPV) were the highest for the SCID (93.8%) and slightly lower for the MINI (88.7%). Reliability analyses revealed substantial agreement for psychotic and bipolar diagnostic groups.

Conclusions: Similar patterns of results were observed at the country level with a few notable differences. Limitations and future directions are discussed.