(Internet) Gaming Disorder in -5 and -11: A Case of the Glass Half Empty or Half Full: (Internet) Le trouble du jeu dans le -5 et la CIM-11: Un cas de verre à moitié vide et à moitié plein.

Background: (-5) included in 2013 Internet gaming disorder (IGD) as a condition for further study, and in 2018, the World Health Organization included gaming disorder (GD) as a mental disorder in the (-11). We aim to compare disorders of gaming in both diagnostic systems using a sample of young adults in Mexico.

Methods: Self-administered survey to estimate the prevalence of -5 IGD and -11 GD in 5 Mexican universities; 7,022 first-year students who participated in the University Project for Healthy Students, part of the World Health Organization World Mental Health International College Student Initiative. Cross-tabulation, logistic regression, and item response theory were used to inform on 12- month prevalence of -5 IGD and -11 GD, without and with impairment.

Results: The 12-month prevalence of -5 IGD was 5.2% (95% CI, 4.7 to 5.8), almost twice as high as the prevalence using the -11 GD criteria (2.7%; 95% CI, 2.4 to 3.1), and while adding an impairment requirement diminishes both estimates, prevalence remains larger in -5. We found that -5 cases detected and undetected by -11 criteria were similar in demographics, comorbid mental disorders, service use, and impairment variables with the exception that cases detected by -11 had a larger number of symptoms and were more likely to have probable drug dependence than undetected -5 cases.

Conclusion: -5 cases detected by -11 are mostly similar to cases undetected by -11. By using -11 instead of -5, we may be leaving (similarly) affected people underserved. It is unlikely that purely epidemiological studies can solve this discrepancy and clinical validity studies maybe needed.