Emotional Disturbances in Endocrine Patients

1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 807-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lobo ◽  
Maria-Jesús Pérez-Echeverría ◽  
Antonio Jiménez-Aznárez ◽  
Maria-Antonia Sancho

The 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) has been validated against the criterion of the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) in Spanish patients in hospital with several types of endocrinological illnesses. The screening instrument correctly identified 91 of 100 respondents as exhibiting psychiatric disorder. The questionnaire's efficacy was similar at the time of medical discharge, when the rate of disorder was significantly lower. Significant correlations were found between GHQ total scores and endocrine blood measures in Addison's disease, and in Type I diabetes. The four subscales of the GHQ sum to provide additional information concerning somatic symptoms and anxiety.

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lobo ◽  
Maria Jesús Pérez-Echeverría ◽  
Jesus Artal

SynopsisThis study confirms the validity of a Spanish version of the General Health Questionnaire in its scaled 28-item version. The screening instrument was tested on a sample of 100 patients attending an internal medicine out-patient clinic, who were examined independently by psychiatrists standardized in the use of the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). The questionnaire correctly identified 85% of “cases” with a cutting score of 6/7 (sensitivity 76·9%, specificity 90·2%), and 83% of cases with a cutting score of 5/6 (sensitivity 84·6%, specificity 82%), suggesting a discriminative power almost as good as the Spanish GHQ-60. It has the important advantage of being considerably shorter and, although the 4 subscales are by no means independent, its concurrent validity with CIS ratings suggests that they provide additional information concerning anxiety and depression.


1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. N. Nott ◽  
S. Cutts

SynopsisTwo hundred consecutive women from five Southampton general practices who were between 8 and 14 weeks postpartum were visited at home. Each subject was given the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and a standardized psychiatric interview. Thirty-seven (18%) were identified as ‘cases’ by the psychiatric interview. Eighty-nine (44.5%) scored highly on the GHQ. Analysis of the results indicates that slight modification of the content and a raised cut-off point of the GHQ-30 make it a useful screening instrument for postpartum psychiatric disorder.


1979 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Henderson ◽  
P. Duncan-Jones ◽  
D. G. Byrnf ◽  
Sylvia Adcock ◽  
Ruth Scott

The hypothesis that a deficiency in social bonds is a significant causal factor in neurosis was examined in a sample of an urban population (N = 756). The General Health Questionnaire was used as a measure of morbidity while social bonds were measured by the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction. An association was found between neurosis and a deficiency, particularly a perceived deficiency, in social bonds. Attention is now being directed to the interpretation of this association and to establishing the direction of causality.


1999 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 971-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liza Day ◽  
John Maltby ◽  
Ann Macaskill

62 undergraduate university students were administered the 12-item Belief in Good Luck Scale of Darke and Freedman and the General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Williams. Scores on belief in good luck showed a significant correlation of −.29 with anxiety and −.35 with depression but correlations were not significant for somatic symptoms (.15) and social dysfunction (.15).


1979 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
pp. 609-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Finlay-Jones ◽  
Elaine Murphy

SummaryThe 30-item General Health Questionnaire misclassified 26 per cent of respondents in two samples of women who were interviewed by a psychiatrist using the Present State Examination. False negatives were likely to be women with chronic disorders, particularly anxiety states. False positives were likely to be distressed by severe physical illness, a recent adverse life event, or loneliness. Applying a higher threshold score to their GHQ, responses would help to separate those with a diagnosable psychiatric disorder from those in states of distress.


1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Stansfeld ◽  
J. E. J. Gallacher ◽  
D. S. Sharp ◽  
J. W. G. Yarnell

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.


1991 ◽  
Vol 84 (12) ◽  
pp. 723-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maskey

Fifty-two pregnant teenagers were assessed at ‘booking’ using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 28), a locus of control scale, and five visual analogue ‘attitude scales’. Thirty-eight were in the antenatal and 14 in the termination clinic. One quarter had probable psychiatric disorder on the GHQ. The GHQ scores correlated significantly with indecision about the planned outcome of pregnancy (whether termination or full term). Locus of control correlated with the Depression scale of the GHQ but not with attitude to pregnancy or choice of termination or delivery. Clinic staff should be alert to the psychiatric risks when seeing teenagers who have marked doubts about their plans when pregnant.


1990 ◽  
Vol 157 (5) ◽  
pp. 686-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Surtees ◽  
M. Tansella

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.


1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Goldberg ◽  
V. F. Hillier

SYNOPSISThis study reports the factor structure of the symptoms comprising the General Health Questionnaire when it is completed in a primary care setting. A shorter, 28-item GHQ is proposed consisting of 4 subscales: somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. Preliminary data concerning the validity of these scales are presented, and the performance of the whole 28-item questionnaire as a screening test is evaluated. The factor structure of the symptomatology is found to be very similar for 3 independent sets of data.


1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 739-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Stansfeld ◽  
M. G. Marmot

SynopsisMajor psychiatric disorder is more common in people of lower rather than higher socioeconomic status. This is less clear for the commoner, so-called minor psychiatric disorders, but these are more affected by tendency to report symptoms. To examine this the distribution of minor psychiatric disorder by employment grade measured by the 30-item General Health Questionnaire is reported from the first cross-sectional phase of the Whitehall II Study of 10314 London-based civil servants, men and women between 35 and 55 years. Validation of the GHQ in a random subsample stratified by grade and sex (N = 201) suggested that people in lower employment grades tend to under-report minor psychiatric disorder on the GHQ relative to those in higher employment grades. The prevalence of minor psychiatric disorder corrected by the coefficients from the validity study was greater in the lower employment grades than the higher employment grades particularly for men. This was echoed in grade differences in well-being measured by the Affect Balance Scale, and in symptoms and recurrent health problems. Overall, for women there were few clear-cut differences in minor psychiatric disorder by employment grade. The lack of social class gradient in women suggests that further exploration should examine women's role at work and their personal lives for the aetiology of minor psychiatric disorder.


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