The value of an improved scoring system (CGHQ) for the General Health Questionnaire in a representative community sample

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1001-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicia A. Huppert ◽  
Mauvis Gore ◽  
B. Jane Elliott
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Optimal Method ◽  
Community Residents

SynopsisThe value of a new method of scoring the General Health Questionnaire (CGHQ) has been assessed in a representative sample of 6317 British community residents aged 18 +. The CGHQ, which takes account of the chronicity of psychiatric symptoms, is found to be superior to the conventional scoring method in yielding a wider range of scores, a more normal distribution and in its close association to a well validated measure of neurotic illness.On the other hand, the conventional GHQ and the CGHQ score appear equally sensitive to a number of socio-demographic variables, including social class, marital status and employment. An important finding is that the two methods identify different individuals as cases. Compared with the GHQ, the CGHQ identifies a higher proportion of the middle-aged. The implications of these findings with respect to the optimal method of scoring the GHQ are discussed.

The Validity of the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire in Australia: A Comparison Between Three Scoring Methods

2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Donath
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Composite International Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Scoring Methods ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Threshold Score

Objective: To investigate the specificity and sensitivity of three different scoring methods of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and hence to determine the best GHQ-12 threshold score for the detection of mental illness in community settings in Australia. Method: Secondary data analysis of the 1997 Australian National Survey of Health and Wellbeing (n = 10 641), using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview as the gold standard for diagnosis of mental illness. Results: The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve for the C-GHQ scoring method was 0.84 (95% CI = 0.83–0.86) compared with the area for the standard scoring method of 0.78 (95% CI = 0.76–0.80). The best threshold with C-GHQ was 3/4, with sensitivity 82.9% (95% CI = 80.2–85.5%) and specificity 69.0% (95% CI = 68.6–69.4%). The best threshold score with the standard scoring method was 0/1, with sensitivity 75.4% (95% CI = 72.5–78.4%) and specificity 69.9% (95% CI = 69.5–70.3%). These were also the best thresholds for a subsample of the population who had consulted a health practitioner in the previous 4 weeks. Conclusion: In the Australian setting, the C-GHQ scoring method is preferable to the standard method of scoring the GHQ-12. In Australia the GHQ-12 appears to be a less useful instrument for detecting mental illness than in many other countries.

Long-Term Stability of the Rational Behavior Inventory and the General Health Questionnaire

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 637-638
Author(s):  
Robbert Sanderman ◽  
Johan Ormel
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Rational Behavior ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Term Stability ◽  
Long Term Stability

For scores of a community sample of 230 adults (120 men, 110 women) rs over 17 mo. were .40 and .78 for the General Health Questionnaire and Rational Behavior Inventory, respectively.

Validation of the General Health Questionnaire in a young community sample

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Banks
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Continuous Variable ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Relative Independence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Misclassification Rates ◽  
State Examination

SYNOPSISValidity coefficients of the 30-item, 28-item and 12-item versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were determined by comparison with the Present State Examination (PSE) in a sample of 200 17-year-olds. The PSE classified 7 people (3·5%) as cases, although only 47% were identified as free of symptoms. Misclassification rates, sensitivity and specificity values are presented for different cutting scores for the three versions of the GHQ. The GHQ-28 had superior values, especially with a cutting score of 5/6; the GHQ-12 with a 2/3 cutting score also had acceptable values. All versions of the GHQ correlated highly with the PSE Index of Definition and total scores, providing support for the treatment of GHQ scores as a continuous variable in this kind of population. Correlations between sub-scales of the GHQ-28 give further evidence for a general factor and the relative independence of the social dysfunction sub-scale.

Social factors and minor psychiatric disorder in middle-aged men: a validation study and a population survey

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Stansfeld ◽  
J. E. J. Gallacher ◽  
D. S. Sharp ◽  
J. W. G. Yarnell
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Psychiatric Disorder ◽  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Married Men

SYNOPSISA cross-sectional survey of minor psychiatric disorder is reported in a representative community sample of 2204 men between the ages of 45 years and 64 years living in Caerphilly, South Wales. Minor psychiatric disorder was measured by the 30-item General Health Questionnaire and validated by the Clinical Interview Schedule in a consecutive sample of 97 men, weighted to provide one-third cases, two-thirds non-cases. A case threshold of 4/5 on the General Health Questionnaire was chosen on the basis of ‘ROC’ analysis. An overall estimated ‘true’ prevalence rate for minor psychiatric disorder of 22·0% was found, with 22·3% of men scoring 5 or more on the General Health Questionnaire. Rates of minor psychiatric disorder were higher in widowed and divorced men than in married men but were also, unexpectedly, lower in single as opposed to married men. There was no social-class gradient in minor psychiatric morbidity but a lower rate in Social Class III NM may be largely explained by lower unemployment rates. There were markedly higher rates of minor psychiatric morbidity in unemployed men and those who retired ill. Men with no available social contacts had higher rates of morbidity than men with some or high social contacts.

Reshaping the Psyche the Concurrent Improvement in Appearance and Mental State after Rhinoplasty

1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Robin ◽  
J. B. Copas ◽  
A. B. Jack ◽  
A. C. Kaeser ◽  
P. J. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Mental State ◽  
General Health ◽  
Marked Improvement ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Elective Surgery ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Facial Appearance ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Symptom Scores ◽  
Sorting Test

Rhinoplasty patients and matched elective-surgery controls completed the Facial Appearance Sorting Test, the General Health Questionnaire, a Repertory Grid and the Masculinity/Femininity Scale. Rhinoplasty applicants perceived appearance similarly to, and downrated their own appearance to the same extent as, controls. Impaired appearance and psychiatric symptoms are integral parts of the ‘rhinoplasty applicant syndrome’, but the degree to which they occur is not positively correlated. Interviews and tests were repeated 6 months after operation, when marked improvement in appearance was reported by the rhinoplasty patients, associated with the reduction of psychiatric-symptom scores. Control subjects showed no change.

The validity of three different versions of the general health questionnaire among general hospital inpatients

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 536-536
Author(s):  
F. Friedrich ◽  
R. Alexandrowicz ◽  
N. Benda ◽  
M. Krautgartner ◽  
G. Cerny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Hospital ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Scoring Methods ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Validity Indices ◽  
Research Interview ◽  
Hospital Inpatients

ObjectiveOriginally, the General Health Questionnaire (= GHQ) was designed to detect mental disorders among general medical outpatients and in community. The aim of the present survey is to compare the criterion validity indices of three different GHQ versions among general hospital inpatients when using different scoring methods.MethodThe GHQ-30 was filled in by inpatients prior to the research interview. For psychiatric case-identifiation the Clinical Interview Schedule was performed by three research psychiatrists.ResultsThe final sample consisted of 993 inpatients. When comparing the three different GHQ-versions, no significant differences were found in OMR and ROC-AUC as well as in sensitivity (0,612–0,701) and specificity (0,601–0759). When comparing the four scoring methods no significant differences were found in sensitivity. By contrast, OMR and specificity showed better indices for the 20 item and 12 item GHQ versions when using the bimodal and modified Lickert scoring method. Further, the Lickert scoring method showed no significant differences to the other scoring methods for the GHQ-30, where as the modified Lickert and the bimodal method showed lower OMR and higher specificity compared to the chronic method.ConclusionDue to the results of this survey, the future use of the chronic scoring method for the GHQ has to be questioned when used for general hospital inpatients.

The Mental Health of Elderly Couples II. Concordance for Psychiatric Morbidity in Spouses

1987 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Eagles ◽  
L. G. Walker ◽  
G. W. Blackwood ◽  
J. A. G. Beattie ◽  
D. B. Restall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
The Self ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Self Assessment

A community sample of elderly married couples completed the 60-item General Health Questionnaire and the Leeds General Scales for the Self-Assessment of Depression and Anxiety. Significant concordance was demonstrated between the spouses' scores on these scales. Concordance was higher for depression than for anxiety. There was little to support previous findings that wives are more likely than husbands to be concordant with an ill spouse. The spouse concordance rates for psychiatric morbidity were similar to those found in studies of younger married couples.

Inter-generational Conflict and Psychiatric Symptoms

1986 ◽  
Vol 149 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fakhr El-Islam ◽  
Sanaá I. Abu-Dagga ◽  
Taha H. Malasi ◽  
Mohamed A. A. Moussa
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
General Health ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Apparent Discrepancy ◽  
Generational Conflict ◽  
Generational Conflicts

Secondary school pupils and their parents were investigated using the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–28) and by a questionnaire designed to study attitudes involved in inter-generational conflict in psychiatric patients. Parent-pupil and interparental conflict in answers to the attitude questionnaires were taken as measures of inter-generational and intra-generational conflicts respectively. The former significantly exceeded the latter. Parent-student conflict was higher when the students involved were females, Kuwaiti, or had less educated fathers. The tendency of the number of reported GHQ symptoms to be higher in members of families with higher inter-generational conflict did not reach statistical significance. There is an apparent discrepancy between this finding and the prominence of inter-generational conflict in clinical material.

Psychiatric Disorder in the Community and the General Health Questionnaire

1987 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 828-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Surtees
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorder ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Relative Operating Characteristic ◽  
General Population Study ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Item Responses

Goodchild & Duncan-Jones (1985) have proposed a new scoring method for Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) in which increased weight is given to item responses considered to indicate current (but chronic) affective disorders. This report examines both their revised and the conventional scoring of the GHQ in the context of a longitudinal general population study of psychiatric disorder among women. Sensitivity estimates based upon advised cut-points were found to be higher for the revised than for the conventional scoring scheme, and this difference remained when allowance was made for the duration for which disorders had been present prior to assessment with the GHQ. However, Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that while both forms of scoring the GHQ discriminated affective conditions (with or without allowance for their duration) there was no significant difference in their ability to do so. The justification therefore for the post-hoc interpretation of certain item responses as indicators of enduring affective states remains controversial and an issue for future research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document