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Community Screening for Mental Illness: A Validity Study of the General Health Questionnaire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Sidney Benjamin ,
Peter Decalmer  and
Dave Haran
Sidney Benjamin
Affiliation:
University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Swinton Grove, Manchester M13 0EU
Peter Decalmer
Affiliation:
The University Hospital of South Manchester, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 8LR
Dave Haran
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Social Research, Christie Hospital, Manchester M20 9BX
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Summary

The 60-item GHQ was validated in a community population by comparison with the CIS. The GHQ failed to identify nearly half of the psychiatric ‘cases' in this population. Those missed were similar to those detected except for greater chronicity of illness and more frequent social and interpersonal problems. The GHQ appears to be unsuitable as a screening instrument for mental illness in the community and the possible reasons are discussed. Principal components analysis resulted in a 15-item GHQ factor which, when used with Likert scoring, resulted in considerable improvement and failed to identify only 4 per cent of ‘cases'. It is suggested that this may provide a more satisfactory screening instrument.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 140 , Issue 2 , February 1982 , pp. 174 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

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