Validity of the Repeated Ghq among Pregnant Women: A Study in a Japanese General Hospital

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshinori Kitamura ◽  
Mari A. Toda ◽  
Satoru Shima ◽  
Masumi Sugawara
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
Affective Disorders ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Antenatal Clinic ◽  
Discriminatory Power ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Validity Measures

Objective: The authors examined the variability of the validity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) on two different occasions. Method: The subjects were 120 pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic of a general hospital in Japan. The GHQ was distributed twice—in the first and third trimesters. They were then interviewed by a psychiatrist blind to the GHQ scores using the standard and the “change” version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). Results: Of the 120 women, 108 and ninety-eight completed the GHQ and were successfully interviewed in the first and third trimesters, respectively. Seventeen percent (18/108) and 13 percent (13/98) women were given RDC diagnoses in the first and third trimesters, respectively: They were designated as cases. Despite a satisfactory discriminatory power of the GHQ on the first occasion [1], the validity measures of the GHQ on the second occasion were generally poor. Thus, the sensitivity was 39 percent and specificity 82 percent for the cut-off point of 7/8. Conclusions: The GHQ should be validated separately when distributed repeatedly to the same subjects.

Validity indices of the General Health Questionnaire among general hospital inpatients

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (S 01) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Friedrich ◽  
R Alexandrowicz ◽  
N Benda ◽  
G Cerny ◽  
J Wancata
Keyword(s):  
General Hospital ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Validity Indices ◽  
Hospital Inpatients

Familial Aspects of Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis

1987 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick McKeon ◽  
Robin Murray
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Affective Disorders ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Lifetime Prevalence ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Neurotic Disorders ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
And Control

The first-degree relatives of 50 obsessive-compulsive patients and those of matched controls completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Leyton Obsessional Inventory (LOI). Relatives who were identified as possible ‘cases' by their high GHQ scores, or by their own or informant relatives' reports, were interviewed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Index relatives had a significantly higher lifetime prevalence of mental illness (36%) than had those of controls (17%), due mainly to an excess of depressive and neurotic disorders. However, only one relative from each group was diagnosed as having definite obsessive-compulsive neurosis. In addition, the LOI scores were similar for the index and control relatives.

Validation of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire in early pregnancy

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 503-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah J. Sharp
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Roc Curves ◽  
Antenatal Clinic ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Relative Operating Characteristic ◽  
Psychiatric Interview ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽  
Severity Rating ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

SynopsisOne-hundred-and-seventy-nine women attending their first antenatal clinic at two general practices in South London were asked to complete the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) as part of a larger prospective longitudinal study into childbirth-related affective disorders. The women were later interviewed at home and a standardized psychiatric interview administered. Relative operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the optimum cut-off point on the GHQ-30. Thirty-five per cent of the women were high scorers on the GHQ-30 (≥6) and 29% were found to be ‘cases’ at interview (CIS Overall Severity Rating ≥2).

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.

scholarly journals Effect of Attending Childbirth Education Classes on Psychological Distress in Pregnant Women Measured by Means of the General Health Questionnaire

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 953-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Jakubiec ◽  
Katarzyna Jagielska ◽  
Mikołaj Karmowski ◽  
Katarzyna Kubicka ◽  
Andrzej Karmowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Childbirth Education

scholarly journals The general health questionnaire as a measure of emotional wellbeing in pregnant women

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 447-456
Author(s):  
Yvonne Kuipers ◽  
Julie Jomeen ◽  
Tinne Dilles ◽  
Bart Van Rompaey
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
External Validity ◽  
General Health ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure reliability, validity and accuracy of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) as a measure of emotional wellbeing in pregnant women; utility and threshold in particular. Design/methodology/approach The authors measured self-reported emotional wellbeing responses of 164 low-risk pregnant Dutch women with the GHQ-12 and a dichotomous case-finding item (Gold standard). The authors established internal consistency of the 12 GHQ-items (Cronbach’s coefficient α); construct validity: factor analysis using Oblimin rotation; convergent validity (Pearson’s correlation) and discriminatory ability (area under the receiver operating characteristics curve and index of union); and external validity of the dichotomous criterion standard against the GHQ-12 responses (sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and predictive values), applying a cut-off value of ⩾ 12 and ⩾ 17, respectively. Findings A coefficient of 0.85 showed construct reliability. The GHQ-12 items in the pattern matrix showed a three-dimensional factorial model: factor 1, anxiety and depression; factor 2, coping; and factor 3, significance/effect on life, with a total variance of 59 per cent. The GHQ-12 showed good accuracy (0.84; p=<0.001) and external validity (r=0.57; p=<0.001) when the cut-off value was set at the ⩾ 17 value. Using a cut-off value of ⩾ 17 demonstrated higher sensitivity (72.32 vs 41.07 per cent) but lower specificity (32.69 vs 55.77 per cent) compared to the commonly used cut-off value of ⩾ 12. Research limitations/implications Findings generally support the reliability, validity and accuracy of the Dutch version of the GHQ-12. Further evaluation of the measure, at more than one timepoint during pregnancy, is recommended. Practical implications The GHQ-12 holds the potential to measure antenatal emotional wellbeing and women’s emotional responses and coping mechanisms with reduced antenatal emotional wellbeing. Social implications Adapting the GHQ-12 cut-off value enables effective identification of reduced emotional wellbeing to provide adequate care and allows potential reduction of anxiety among healthy pregnant women who are incorrectly screened as positive. Originality/value A novel aspect is adapting the threshold of the GHQ-12 to ⩾ 17 in antenatal care.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document