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GHQ-12/30/60 all yield only an overall total score. The GHQ-28 is a scaled version, yielding four sub-scores, each based on seven items and a total ... Home KnowledgeBase Assessments GeneralHealthQuestionnaireSupport AbouttheGeneralHealthQuestionnaire FAQs BacktoAbouttheGeneralHealthQuestionnaire GeneralHealthQuestionnaireSupportHome AbouttheGeneralHealthQuestionnaire FAQs GeneralHealthQuestionnaire Findoutmore FAQs Articlesinthissection: WhatistheGHQusedfor? BywhomisGHQused? WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-12? WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-28? WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-30? WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-60? HowshouldIchoosebetweentheGHQ-60andtheGHQ-30? HowdoIobtainpermissiontousetheGHQinresearchstudies? IllegaluseoftheGHQ ArethereanytranslationsoftheGHQ? HowistheGHQscored? CanLikertscoringbeconvertedtoGHQscoring? WhatarethethresholdsforGHQ? HowdoIscoremissingdataintheGHQ? CantheGHQbeusedwithchildrenandadolescents? WhatistheGHQusedfor? TheGHQisusedtodetectpsychiatricdisorderinthegeneralpopulationandwithincommunityornon-psychiatricclinicalsettingssuchasprimarycareorgeneralmedicalout-patients.Itassessestherespondent’scurrentstateandasksifthatdiffersfromhisorherusualstate.Itisthereforesensitivetoshort-termpsychiatricdisordersbutnottolong-standingattributesoftherespondent. BywhomisGHQused? TheGHQisverywidelyusedbyresearchersinvariousfields(occupationalhealth,medicine,psychology)andclinicianswhowishtoscreenindividualsforpsychiatricdisorder. WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-12? Thisversionofthe GHQ isveryquicktoadministerandscoreasitcontainsonly12questions.Ithascomparablepsychometricpropertiestothelongerversionseventhoughitonlytakesaroundtwominutestocomplete.Givenitsspeedofadministration,itisoftenusedinresearchstudieswhereitisimpracticaltoadministeralongerform. The GHQ-12 waspreparedbyremovingtheitemsendorsedby‘physicallyill’respondentsfromthe GHQ-60.Itemswerethendividedintothoseinwhichagreementindicatedeitherhealthorillness.Withineachgroup,itemswereselectedwhichhadthehighestslopesintheoriginalitemanalysis.Forfurtherinformationonthedesignofthe GHQ-12,pleaserefertotheUser’sGuide(1988),p.21.The GHQ-12 yieldsonlyanoveralltotalscore. WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-28? Itisoftenofmoreinteresttobeabletoexamineaprofileofscoresratherthanasinglescore,makingthisversionofthe GHQ particularlyuseful.Itcontains28itemsthat,throughfactoranalysis,havebeendividedintofoursub-scales.The GHQ-28 isthemostwell-knownandpopularversionofthe GHQ.Forfurtherinformationonthedesignofthe GHQ-28,pleaserefertotheUser’sGuide(1988),p.37. This‘scaled’versionoftheGHQhasbeendevelopedonthebasisoftheresultsofprincipalcomponentsanalysis.Thefoursub-scales,eachcontainingsevenitems,areasfollows: A–somaticsymptoms(items1-7) B–anxiety/insomnia(items8-14) C–socialdysfunction(items15-21) D–severedepression(items22-28) Therearenothresholdsforindividualsub-scales.Individualsub-scalesareusedforprovidingindividualdiagnosticorprofileinformation.Foridentifyingcasenesswith GHQ-28,thetotalofthesub-scalesisused. Animportantpaperonthe GHQ-28 isthatwhichreportstheWHOstudyofmentalillnessingeneralhealthcare.Goldberg,D.P.etal(1997).Thevalidityoftwoversionsofthe GHQ intheWHOstudyofmentalillnessingeneralhealthcare.PsychologicalMedicine,27,191-197. The GHQ-28 hasbeenadvocatedbyEaston&Turnerforuseintraumaresearchandisincludedinthe1998GLAssessment‘MeasuresinPost-traumaticStressDisorder:APractitioner’sGuide’mini-portfolioeditedbyStuartTurnerandDeborahLee. WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-30? Thisversioncontains30itemsandisexcellentasaquickscreenertohelpdetectcaseness.Itproducesanoverallscorethatcanbecomparedwithaprescribedcut-offscore. The GHQ-30 isthemostwidelyvalidatedversionand29validitystudiesareoutlinedintheUser’sGuide.Itwasdevelopedfromthe GHQ-60 andinvolvedremovingallquestionsrelatedtosomaticsymptoms.Forfurtherinformationonthedesignofthe GHQ-30,pleaserefertotheUser’sGuide(1988),p.21.Thefactthatthisversionissowell-validatedisagoodreasonforchoosingtousethe GHQ-30. The GHQ-30 yieldsonlyanoveralltotalscore. WhataretheuniquetechnicalfeaturesoftheGHQ-60? Thisversioncontains60itemsandisidealifitistobeusedtoidentifypotentialcasesformoreintensiveexamination.However,thereisundoubtedlysomeredundancyinthe GHQ-60 andthismustexplainhowversionsasshortasthe GHQ-12 stilldoagoodjobofdiscriminatingbetweencasesandnon-cases.Inplaceswheretimeisstrictlylimitedorrespondentshavepoorreadingskillsandthequestionsmustbereadouttothem,thereareobviousadvantagesinusingashorterversionofthequestionnaire.The GHQ-60 producesanoverallscorethatcanbecomparedwithaprescribedcut-offscore.Forfurtherinformationonthedevelopmentanddesignofthe GHQ-60,pleasereferto:Goldberg,D.(1972)TheDetectionofPsychiatricIllnessbyQuestionnaire.MaudsleyMonographNo.21,OxfordUniversityPress. HowshouldIchoosebetweentheGHQ-60andtheGHQ-30? Theonlyadvantageofusingthe GHQ-30 overthe GHQ-60 isthatitcanbecompletedmorequickly(3-4minutescomparedwith6-8minutes).Patientsinconsultationsettingsoftenwaitaslongas10minutestoseetheirdoctor,hencethelongerquestionnaireseemsquitereasonable.Iftheintentionisfor GHQ usewithinanon-consultingsetting,thenthe GHQ-60 ispreferable,sincethehits-positiverateismuchbetterinsettingswithlowprevalence. HowdoIobtainpermissiontousetheGHQinresearchstudies? Wewillconsiderrequestsforthe GHQ tobeusedinanalternativeformat(eg:includedwithinatestbookletforresearchpurposes).Insuchcasesa GHQ userguideshouldbepurchased. Youwillfirstneedtocontactuswithdetailsofwhatyouwishtodovia: [email protected]. InformationRequired: Briefdetailsoftheproject,forexample,whatisthestudymeasuring? Howmanyadministrationswillyoubecarryingout?Forexample,ifyouwillbeadministeringthe GHQ-28to100peopletwice,youwillbedoing200administrations. Willyoubeusingthemeasureasitstandsorwillyoubeusingthewholescaleorsomeoftheitemswithinalargerquestionnaire? Areyouastudentoraclinicalpractitioner?Ifyouarestudentpleaseprovidedetailsofyoursupervisor. IllegaluseoftheGHQ Thisisunfairtotheauthorsandfutureresearchers.Theconditionssetoutforpermissiontousethe GHQ aspartofyourownresearchhavebeenputtogethertoprotecttheuseofthequestionnaire.Photocopyingarecordformwithoutabidingbytheconditionsoutlinedaboveisregardedastheftandisacriminaloffence.PartofthepaymentreceivedfrompermissionsispaidasaroyaltytotheInstituteofPsychiatrytofundresearch. ArethereanytranslationsoftheGHQ? Anumberoftranslationsareavailable.However,thesehavenotbeenvalidatedbyGLAssessment.TheMAPIResearchTrustdistributestranslatedversionsonbehalfofourCompany.YouwillfirstneedtoobtainpermissiontousethescalethroughGLAssessmentvia [email protected].TranslatedversionsareavailableinarangeoflanguagesincludingCzech,AfrikaansandUS-Spanish. ThenyouwillneedtocontactMAPI,informingthemofthetranslationsyourequirevia: [email protected]. Pleaseseearecentarticle,andpaper,publishedbytheBritishPsychologySociety:http://www.bps.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/releases$/division-of-educational-and-child-psychology/children-with-delayed-language-skills$.cfm. Locke,A,Ginsbourg,JandPeers,I. (2002).DevelopmentandDisadvantage:implicationsfortheearlyyearsandbeyond.International.J.ofLanguage&CommunicationDisorders,37(1),3-15 HowistheGHQscored? thatrangesfroma'better/healthierthannormal'option,througha'sameasusual'anda'worse/morethanusual'toa'muchworse/morethanusual'option.Theexactwordingwilldependupontheparticularnatureoftheitem. Therearefourpossiblemethodsofscoringthequestionnaire: GHQ scoring(0-0-1-1).Thismethodisadvocatedbythetestauthor. Likertscoring(0-1-2-3) ModifiedLikertscoring(0-0-1-2) C-GHQ scoring(0-0-1-1)forpositiveitems,whereagreementindicateshealth,and0-1-1-1fornegativeitems,whereagreementindicatesillness). Forboth GHQ andLikertscoring,thewordingoftheitemsmeanthattheycanallbescoredinthesamedirection(noneedtoreversescore),sothehigherthescore,themoreseverethecondition.TheLikertscoringmethodwillproduceawiderandsmootherscoredistributionifaresearcherwishestoassessseverityandtheC-GHQmethodismorenormallydistributedthanthe GHQ scoringmethod. Theauthorhasstatedthat‘…modifiedLikertisinferiortosimpleLikertandmaythereforebediscarded’. C-GHQscoringisarelativelyspecialisedmethodandisusefulonlywhenitisimportantnottomisscaseswithlong-standingdisorders. GHQ-12/30/60allyieldonlyanoveralltotalscore.The GHQ-28 isascaledversion,yieldingfoursub-scores,eachbasedonsevenitemsandatotalscore. CanLikertscoringbeconvertedtoGHQscoring? Thisisnotpossible.Thebestadviceistoscoreusingthe GHQ methodandtousethresholdscoresthathavebeencomputedscoringthatmethod.Itwouldbeusefultorefertothefollowingreference:Goldberg,D.P.etal Thevalidityoftwoversionsofthe GHQ intheWHOstudyofmentalillnessingeneralhealthcare.PsychologicalMedicine,1997,27,191-197. WhatarethethresholdsforGHQ? Thresholdsareonlyrelevantforscreeninguseofthe GHQ,i.e.foridentifying‘caseness’.Forthisuse,theGHQscoringisadvocatedbythetestauthor.For GHQ-30 and GHQ-60,theuserwillneedtodeterminetheirrequiredthresholdvalue–wehavenodataonwhichtobaseadefaultthresholdforsuchscoring. Ingeneral,itisbestiftheuserspecifiestheirrequiredthresholdvalue,basedonpastclinicaluseorresearchevidencerelevanttotheirassessmentcircumstances.Thefollowinggivessomethresholdvaluesthatcanbeenteredasdefaultoptions.Thesehavebeenderivedfrominformationintheoriginal GHQ Manual,theUser’sGuideandthefollowingpaper:Goldberg,D.P.etal(1997). Thevalidityoftwoversionsofthe GHQ intheWHOstudyofmentalillnessingeneralhealthcare.PsychologicalMedicine,27,191-197. N.B.Forpeoplewhoarephysicallyill,ahigherthresholdthanthedefaultonewillprobablybeneededforoptimaldiscriminationbetweencasesandnon-cases. SuggestedDefaultThresholds:  GHQ GHQ Scoring Likert GHQ12 1/2(maxscore12) 11/12(maxscore36) GHQ28 4/5*(maxscore28) 23/24(maxscore84) GHQ30 4/5(maxscore30) ---(maxscore90) GHQ60 11/12(maxscore60) ---(maxscore180) *advocatedin1978 GHQ Manual;1997WHOstudy(seereferenceabove)hadanaveragethreshold,acrossallcentresandlanguages,of5/6andreportsathresholdof6/7foraManchester,UKsample.Turner&Leeadvocateacut-offof12/13asalmostalwaysindicatingapositivepsychiatricconditioninthePTSDcontext(seeEaston,J.A.andTurner,S.W.(1991)DetentionofBritishcitizensashostagesintheGulf–health,psychological,andfamilyconsequences.BritishMedicalJournal,303,1231-1234). HowdoIscoremissingdataintheGHQ? Thestandardprocedureistocountomitteditemsaslowscores.Thisappliestoallfourversionsofthe GHQ. CantheGHQbeusedwithchildrenandadolescents? Noneoftheversionsofthe GHQ arerecommendedforusewithchildren.However,theUserGuide(p63)notesthatseveralresearchersappeartohaveuseditsuccessfullywithadolescents. GeneralHealthQuestionnaire Findoutmore Searchforanotherknowledgetopic