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Chronic Psychiatric Complaints and the General Health Questionnaire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. W. J. Koeter ,
W. van den Brink  and
J. Ormel
M. W. J. Koeter*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, State University of Groningen
W. van den Brink
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, State University of Groningen
J. Ormel
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, State University of Groningen
*
∗Department of Social Psychiatry, Academic Hospital Groningen, Postbox 30001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands
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Abstract

The sensitivity of the GHQ and a revised scoring procedure (CGHQ) for chronic psychiatric complaints was investigated on 175 outpatients. The mean level of severity of symptoms of the groups with and without chronic complaints was not significantly different. However, patients with chronic complaints showed a significantly lower mean GHQ score than patients without chronic complaints. The mean CGHQ scores of the two groups did not differ, suggesting that the CGHQ is a better indicator of the severity of the chronic psychiatric state than the GHQ. The revised scoring procedure resulted in a decrease in the number of false negatives. The strongest reduction in false negatives, however, was induced by a combination of the original and the revised scoring procedures. This reduction was achieved at the expense of only a small increase in the number of false positives. Altogether, the revised scoring procedure proved to be only marginally better.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 155 , Issue 2 , August 1989 , pp. 186 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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