Measuring the Mental Health Status of a Population: a Comparison of the GHQ–12 and the SF–36 (MHI–5)

1996 ◽  
Vol 169 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. McCabe ◽  
K. J. Thomas ◽  
J. E. Brazier ◽  
P. Coleman

BackgroundA comparison of the performance of the 5-item mental health dimension of SF–36 (MHI–5) with that of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–12) in a defined, non-patient population, using standard statistical tests.MethodsA postal survey of 3000 patients aged 16–64 years was conducted. Patients were randomly selected from the practice lists of two general practices chosen to represent populations with different socio-economic characteristics.ResultsConsiderable evidence was found for the internal consistency of both instruments (Cronbach's α 0.91 and 0.84 for GHQ–12 and the MHI–5 respectively) and for their construct validity in terms of distinguishing between groups with measured health differences. Both instruments showed a significant difference in the mean scores for men and women. In contrast to the GHQ–12, no correlation was found between age and score for the MHI–5. Both instruments were equally sensitive to socio-economic characteristics and to levels of social support The scores on the two instruments were highly correlated (Spearman rank correlation – 0.73).ConclusionThe MHI–5 has comparable psychometric performance to the GHQ–12, and can be used to measure and compare mental health in defined populations. Operational advantages of the MHI–5 over the GHQ–12 are that it is in the public domain, is part of a general health measure (SF–36) and is shorter.

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20619-e20619
Author(s):  
I. Vrettos ◽  
A. Papadopoulos ◽  
K. Kamposioras ◽  
D. Charitos ◽  
G. Giannopoulos ◽  
...  

e20619 Background: It is widely experienced that health-related quality of life (HRQL) is greatly influenced in the family members of cancer patients. The aim of this study was to find the correlation of the HRQL parameters in cancer patients with the main mental component parameters of patients’ relatives. Methods: 122 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in our department (49 men and 73 women) of mean age 56.6 ±15.4 1SD and their 122 relatives that accompanied them (45 men and 77 women) of mean age 48.3 ±14.5 completed the validated SF-36 health survey by personal interview. The SF-36 health survey summarizes the functional health status and general health into eight scales with higher scores (0–100 range) reflecting better-perceived health. In this study, physical functioning (PF), role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health perception (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role emotional (RE), and mental health (MH) of the patients were correlated with the SF, RE, MH of their family members using the Spearman's test. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 13.0 and correlations were considered statistically significant when p<0.05. Results: Table 1 summarizes the results of our study. Social Functioning and Mental Health of family members are highly correlated with the HRQL parameters of cancer patients. The RE does not seem to be affected. Conclusions: HRQL of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy is highly correlated with the SF and the MH of their relatives. This observation highlights the need to develop more oriented supportive programs for both the patients and their family memebers. Abbreviations: PF = Physical Functioning, RP = Role Physical, BP = Bodily Pain, GH = General Health, VT = Vitality, SF = Social Functioning, RE = Role Emotional, MH = Mental Health; NS=Not Significant. * = 0.05. ** = 0.01. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (32) ◽  
pp. 1-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Lobban ◽  
Nadia Akers ◽  
Duncan Appelbe ◽  
Rossella Iraci Capuccinello ◽  
Lesley Chapman ◽  
...  

Background Relatives caring for people with severe mental health problems find information and emotional support hard to access. Online support for self-management offers a potential solution. Objective The objective was to determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an online supported self-management tool for relatives: the Relatives’ Education And Coping Toolkit (REACT). Design and setting This was a primarily online (UK), single-blind, randomised controlled trial, comparing REACT plus a resource directory and treatment as usual with the resource directory and treatment as usual only, by measuring user distress and other well-being measures at baseline and at 12 and 24 weeks. Participants A total of 800 relatives of people with severe mental health problems across the UK took part; relatives who were aged ≥ 16 years, were experiencing high levels of distress, had access to the internet and were actively seeking help were recruited. Intervention REACT comprised 12 psychoeducation modules, peer support through a group forum, confidential messaging and a comprehensive resource directory of national support. Trained relatives moderated the forum and responded to messages. Main outcome measure The main outcome was the level of participants’ distress, as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-28 items. Results Various online and offline strategies, including social media, directed potential participants to the website. Participants were randomised to one of two arms: REACT plus the resource directory (n = 399) or the resource directory only (n = 401). Retention at 24 weeks was 75% (REACT arm, n = 292; resource directory-only arm, n = 307). The mean scores for the General Health Questionnaire-28 items reduced substantially across both arms over 24 weeks, from 40.2 (standard deviation 14.3) to 30.5 (standard deviation 15.6), with no significant difference between arms (mean difference –1.39, 95% confidence interval –3.60 to 0.83; p = 0.22). At 12 weeks, the General Health Questionnaire-28 items scores were lower in the REACT arm than in the resource directory-only arm (–2.08, 95% confidence interval –4.14 to –0.03; p = 0.027), but this finding is likely to be of limited clinical significance. Accounting for missing data, which were associated with higher distress in the REACT arm (0.33, 95% confidence interval –0.27 to 0.93; p = 0.279), in a longitudinal model, there was no significant difference between arms over 24 weeks (–0.56, 95% confidence interval –2.34 to 1.22; p = 0.51). REACT cost £142.95 per participant to design and deliver (£62.27 for delivery only), compared with £0.84 for the resource directory only. A health economic analysis of NHS, health and Personal Social Services outcomes found that REACT has higher costs (£286.77), slightly better General Health Questionnaire-28 items scores (incremental General Health Questionnaire-28 items score adjusted for baseline, age and gender: –1.152, 95% confidence interval –3.370 to 1.065) and slightly lower quality-adjusted life-year gains than the resource directory only; none of these differences was statistically significant. The median time spent online was 50.8 minutes (interquartile range 12.4–172.1 minutes) for REACT, with no significant association with outcome. Participants reported finding REACT a safe, confidential environment (96%) and reported feeling supported by the forum (89%) and the REACT supporters (86%). No serious adverse events were reported. Limitations The sample comprised predominantly white British females, 25% of participants were lost to follow-up and dropout in the REACT arm was not random. Conclusions An online self-management support toolkit with a moderated group forum is acceptable to relatives and, compared with face-to-face programmes, offers inexpensive, safe delivery of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended support to engage relatives as peers in care delivery. However, currently, REACT plus the resource directory is no more effective at reducing relatives’ distress than the resource directory only. Future work Further research in improving the effectiveness of online carer support interventions is required. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN72019945. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 24, No. 32. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.


Thorax ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. thoraxjnl-2020-216613
Author(s):  
Mohamed D Hashem ◽  
Ramona O Hopkins ◽  
Elizabeth Colantuoni ◽  
Victor D Dinglas ◽  
Pratik Sinha ◽  
...  

BackgroundPrior acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) trials have identified hypoinflammatory and hyperinflammatory subphenotypes, with distinct differences in short-term outcomes. It is unknown if such differences extend beyond 90 days or are associated with physical, mental health or cognitive outcomes.Methods568 patients in the multicentre Statins for Acutely Injured Lungs from Sepsis trial of rosuvastatin versus placebo were included and assigned a subphenotype. Among 6-month and 12-month survivors (N=232 and 219, respectively, representing 243 unique survivors), subphenotype status was evaluated for association with a range of patient-reported outcomes (eg, mental health symptoms, quality of life). Patient subsets also were evaluated with performance-based tests of physical function (eg, 6 min walk test) and cognition.FindingsThe hyperinflammatory versus hypoinflammatory subphenotype had lower overall 12-month cumulative survival (58% vs 72%, p<0.01); however, there was no significant difference in survival beyond 90 days (86% vs 89%, p=0.70). Most survivors had impairment across the range of outcomes, with little difference between subphenotypes at 6-month and 12-month assessments. For instance, at 6 months, in comparing the hypoinflammatory versus hyperinflammatory subphenotypes, respectively, the median (IQR) patient-reported SF-36 mental health domain score was 47 (33–56) vs 44 (35–56) (p=0.99), and the per cent predicted 6 min walk distance was 66% (48%, 80%) vs 66% (49%, 79%) (p=0.76).InterpretationComparing the hyperinflammatory versus hypoinflammatory ARDS subphenotype, there was no significant difference in survival beyond 90 days and no consistent findings of important differences in 6-month or 12-month physical, cognitive and mental health outcomes. These findings, when considered with prior results, suggest that inflammatory subphenotypes largely reflect the acute phase of illness and its short-term impact.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Minchai Kim

Our research aims to elucidate the factors that influence the terminological implantation of a term by proposing a new typology of those factors with a method revealing how their mechanism causes terminological variation in French-language ICT. We accomplish this through an analysis of four Francophone communities: France, Quebec, Belgium, and Switzerland. After establishing a new typology, which encompasses the terminological, socio-terminological, psycho-terminological, and extra-terminological factors, we propose a hypothetical model of their mechanism by introducing three statistical concepts—dependent, independent, and moderator variables—to elucidate these factors’ relationships. We verify our model in two steps. First, for the analysis of terminological and socio- terminological factors, we examine the relations between each factor and terminological implantation of 256 French ICT terms. For this, we begin by coding the terms according to a criterion established for each factor. We then carry out a correlation analysis with Spearman’s rank correlation. Second, we analyse the psycho-terminological and extra-terminological factors with statistical tests on the answers to our questionnaire, which show significant differences between these four linguistic communities. Our analysis confirms a significant difference between the three European countries and Quebec in the mechanism of the terminological implantation factors and we conclude that the psycho-terminological and extra-terminological factors play a decisive role in this difference, which we identify as diatopic.


1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Cheung ◽  
George Spears

A community postal survey of minor psychiatric morbidity among Chinese women living in Dunedin was conducted. The 28-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used as the case identification instrument. The overall rate of psychiatric morbidity of Dunedin Chinese women did not differ from their European counterparts. The sociodemographic factors found to be associated with minor psychiatric morbidity included having no children, and being either very well or very poorly educated. Among (foreign born) migrants, those who were born in China, whose reason for migration was “follow the lead of their family” or “family reunion”, had resided in NewZealand for ten years or more and spoke English infrequently tended to have higher psychiatric morbidity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 372-386
Author(s):  
Takahiro Yoshizumi ◽  
Seiko Mizutani ◽  
Soshiro Yamada

Although many Western studies examining the mental health of welfare recipients exist, Japanese welfare recipients have been overlooked. This study investigated mental health among welfare recipients in Japan and relations with a sense of deprivation of life's necessities and social support. Participants ( n = 305) completed the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), Proportional Deprivation Index, and a social support scale. Participants' GHQ-12 scores exceeded those of the general public, as 54.9% scored above the cut-off, suggesting poorer mental health among welfare recipients than the general population. Proportional Deprivation Index and emotional support from relatives and friends were associated with GHQ-12 scores. These results suggest that while chronic deprivation is associated with poorer mental health among welfare recipients, receiving emotional support may help cope with distress and maintain mental health.


2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 33-48
Author(s):  
DANIEL W. L. LAI ◽  
CONITA K. C. IP

This study examines the differences in mental health between older men and women. A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted with a representative sample of 504 older adults aged 55 years and older. Mental health was measured by a revised Chinese version of the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Mental Component Summary (MCS) of a Chinese version of SF-36. Mental health differences between men and women were not identified, but gender was found to have an effect on mental health in the 54 to 64 age group, when being a female predicted a poorer status of mental health. The poorer financial status of women was the reason for the gender effect. Mental health predictors for men and women were also compared. The findings concluded that interventions to strengthen financial assistance for aging women were important for enhancing mental health. 這研究對五百零四名五十五歲或以上的長者進行電話調查。結果發現男、女長者精神健康差別在五十五至六十四歲的組別中顯示,較差的經濟狀況是影響女性精神健康的因素。比較男、女精神健康指標的結果顯示,經濟援助對強化女性精神健康的重要性。.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Reyna Jazmín Martínez Arriaga ◽  
Leivy Patricia González Ramírez ◽  
Nancy Evelyn Navarro Ruiz ◽  
José María De la Roca -Chiapas ◽  
Oscar Ulises Reynoso González

Introducción: El personal de enfermería es uno de los grupos más afectados por la actual pandemia por COVID-19. Se han reportado problemas de salud mental en esta población, sin embargo, también es importante estudiar la resiliencia, para identificar sus fortalezas. El objetivo de este estudio fue estudiar la resiliencia en enfermeros mexicanos y los factores sociodemográficos y de salud mental asociados a ella. Se llevó a cabo un estudio transversal.Método: Se envió vía online un cuestionario sociodemográfico y relacionado a COVID-19, así como el Inventario de Resiliencia y el Cuestionario General de Salud-28. Se incluyeron 556 enfermeros, la mayoría fueron mujeres (80%), solteras (60.8%) y con edades entre 26-35 años (38.3%).Resultados: Se encontraron niveles bajos de resiliencia en los enfermeros más jóvenes (p<0.001, ɳ2=0.05), solteros (p<0.001, ɳ2=0.02) y con menor nivel educativo (p=0.001, ɳ2=0.02). Los predictores de resiliencia fueron la búsqueda de información sobre salud mental (β =-0.152, p <0.001), nivel educativo más alto (β = 0.142, p<0.001), niveles bajos de depresión (β=-0.307, p<0.001) y bajos niveles de disfunción social (β =-0.261, p<0.001).Conclusión: Estos hallazgos permiten identificar los factores asociados a la resiliencia en los enfermeros y cómo estos juegan un rol muy importante en su salud mental. Asimismo, estos datos permiten la identificación de grupos con mayor riesgo psicosocial, con la finalidad de guiar estrategias en salud mental orientadas a aumentar la resiliencia. Introduction: Nursing personnel are one of the groups which have been most affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Although mental health problems have been reported in this population, it is important to study resilience, in order to identify its strengths. The purpose was to study resilience in Mexican nurses and the mental health and sociodemographic factors associated with it. A cross-sectional study was used. Method: A sociodemographic and COVID-19 related questionnaire, the Resilience Inventory and the General Health Questionnaire-28, was sent via online. 556 nurses were included, the majority were women (80%), single (60.8%), aged between 26-35 years (38.3%). Results: Lower resilience was found among nurses who were younger (p<0.001, ɳ2=0.05), single (p<0.001, ɳ2=0.02) and with lower levels of education (p=0.001, ɳ2=0.02). Predictors of resilience included the search for mental health information (β =-0.152, p <0.001), higher education (β = 0.142, p<0.001), low levels of depression (β=-0.307, p<0.001) and low levels of social dysfunction (β =-0.261, p<0.001). Conclusion: This findings allowed to identify the factors which are associated with resilience among nurses and how this plays an important role in their mental. Likewise, this data allows for the identification of high psychosocial risk groups, to better guide mental health strategies aimed at increasing resilience. Resumo:Introdução:O pessoal de enfermagem é um dos grupos mais afetados pela atual pandemia de COVID-19. Problemas de saúde mental têm sido relatados nessa população, porém também é importante estudar a resiliência, para identificar seus pontos fortes. O objetivo deste estudo foi estudar a resiliência em enfermeiras mexicanas e os fatores sociodemográficos e de saúde mental a ela associados. Foi realizado um estudo transversal.Método:Um questionário sociodemográfico relacionado ao COVID-19 foi enviado online, assim como o Resilience Inventory e o General Health Questionnaire-28. Foram incluídos 556 enfermeiros, a maioria mulheres (80%), solteiros (60,8%) e com idade entre 26-35 anos (38,3%).Resultados:Baixos níveis de resiliência foram encontrados nos enfermeiros mais jovens (p <0,001, ɳ2 = 0,05), solteiros (p <0,001, ɳ2 = 0,02) e com menor escolaridade (p = 0,001, ɳ2 = 0,02). Os preditores de resiliência foram a busca por informações sobre saúde mental (β = -0,152, p <0,001), maior escolaridade (β = 0,142, p <0,001), baixos níveis de depressão (β = -0,307, p <0,001 ) e baixos níveis de disfunção social (β = -0,261, p <0,001).Conclusão:Esses achados permitem identificar os fatores associados à resiliência em enfermeiros e como eles desempenham um papel muito importante em sua saúde mental. Da mesma forma, esses dados permitem identificar grupos de maior risco psicossocial, a fim de nortear estratégias de saúde mental que visem aumentar a resiliência.


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