Hidden psychiatric illness: use of the general health questionnaire in general practice

A factor analytic study of responses to a 60-item General Health Questionnaire of people in general practice and in the community in Perth, Western Australia, was performed. Five identified factors, accounting for 46% of the variance, were very similar to factors identified in an English general practice study but differed from two published Australian studies. The statistic of a relative GHQ profile was generated to compare these factors in various sets of data. There was no significant difference between the relative GHQ profile in the community and general practice data or between demographic factors such as sex, social class and country of birth. The major positive finding was of an excess of overtly psychological factors in ‘cases’ compared with an excess of more physical factors in ‘non-cases’.

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Screening for psychiatric illness in patients with oral dysesthesia by means of the General Health Questionnaire-twenty-eight item version (GHQ-28) and the Irritability, Depression and Anxiety Scale (IDA)

Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology ◽

10.1016/0030-4220(89)90378-2 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 67 (4) ◽

pp. 384-389 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

C. Zilli ◽

R.I. Brooke ◽

C.L. Lau ◽

H. Merskey

Keyword(s):

General Health ◽

Psychiatric Illness ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Anxiety Scale ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Health Questionnaire

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Severity of symptoms of psychiatric outpatients: use of the General Health Questionnaire in hospital and general practice patients

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700007224 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 62-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

A. C. P. Sims ◽

P. H. Salmons

Keyword(s):

General Practice ◽

General Health ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Control Sample ◽

Outpatient Service ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Psychiatric Outpatient ◽

Screening Device ◽

Matched Samples

SynopsisA sample of 91 new referrals to a community based psychiatric outpatient service was compared with a cross-matched control sample of 107 patients attending the general practitioner's surgery. The subjects in both groups completed the General Health Questionnaire and there was a very marked difference between the scores of the two groups. Seventy-five of the psychiatric group had a high score on the questionnaire, and a large number of these were extremely high, while 74 of the general practice group had a low score. The ‘false’ positives and negatives are discussed. It is considered that the validity of this questionnaire as a screening device for demonstrating psychiatric morbidity and severity in general practice is further established in this study by showing that in matched samples the expected psychiatric morbidity in general practice can be compared with the much greater morbidity in psychiatric outpatient referrals. For the psychiatric sample more patients showed high scores and these tended to be much higher.

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The Interval General Health Questionnaire and its Relationship with Psychiatric Disorder in Community and General Practice Samples

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.157.5.686 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 157 (5) ◽

pp. 686-693 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

P. G. Surtees ◽

M. Tansella

Keyword(s):

General Practice ◽

Psychiatric Disorder ◽

General Health ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Assessment Methods ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Diagnostic Significance ◽

Formal Assessment ◽

Summary Measures ◽

Criterion Approach

This paper contrasts the usual scoring of the GHQ-30 with scoring based upon a criterion approach applied to only 12 of the GHQ items that takes account of the ‘diagnostic significance’ of the chosen items. Repeat assessments with this shorter form of the questionnaire (the l-GHQ), coupled with procedures to assess change, can be used to provide summary measures of symptom course in those research situations where available interview time precludes the use of more formal assessment methods.

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