Efficiency of the AMDP anamnestic data in psychiatric research.

The AMDP anamnestic documents were designed to process detailed information on the psychic and social development of the psychiatrically ill in order to improve investigations of the role of social characteristics, especially life-events, concerning onset and course of psychiatric illness. Anamnestic data from 632 patients admitted to hospital treatment were collected and documented with the AMDP-System. Only 24% of the patients were hospitalized for the first time. This is in line with the fact that most of the patients suffered from mental disorders with potentially long-term course. The AMDP-System appears to lack a sufficient relation of anamnestic data to course of life and illness.