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A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

D. P. Goldberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester
V. F. Hillier
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor David Goldberg, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of South Manchester, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 8LR.

Synopsis

This 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.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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References

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