Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)

Comparison of the English version and a translated Indian version

  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

The English version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and a translated Indian version were administered to a sample of hundred bilingual college students. Both the versions of the GHQ showed adequate internal consistency and reliability. There was a high concordance between the two versions on high scorers and low scorers. These results were also applicable to GHQ-30 and GHQ-42. Item analysis revealed certain differences between the two versions attributable to semantic and technical problems. Validity of the GHQ in the Indian setting are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ballinger B (1977) Psychiatric morbidity and the menopause: survey of a gynaecological out-patient clinic. Br J Psychiatry 131: 83–89

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bandopadyay G, Sinha S, Sen B, Sen G (1988) Validity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-36/GHQ-12) in the psychiatric OPD of a general hospital — a pilot study. Int J Soc Psychiatry 34:130–134

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banks MH (1983) Validation of the General Health Questionnaire in a young community sample. Psychol Med 13: 349–353

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin S, Decalmer P, Haren D (1982) Community screening for mental illness. A validity study of the General Health Questionnaire. Br J Psychiatry 140: 174–180

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boardman AP (1987) The General Health Questionnaire and the director or emotional disorder by general practitioners: a replicated study. Br J Psychiatry 151: 373–381

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bridges KW, Goldberg DP (1986) The validation of the GHQ-28 and the use of the MMSE in neurological in-patients. Br J Psychiatry 148: 548–553

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne P (1984) Psychiatric morbidity in a gynaecological survey. Br J Psychiatry 144: 28–34

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW (1985) The Chinese version of the General Health Questionnaire: does language make a difference? Psychol Med 15:147–155

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan-Jones P, Henderson S (1978) The use of a two-phase design in a prevalence survey. Soc Psychiatry 13: 231–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontanesi F, Gobetti C, Zimmermann-Tansella CH, Tansella M (1985) Validation of the Italian version of the GHQ in general practice. Psychol Med 15: 411–415

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gautam S, Nijhawan M, Preet Kamal (1987) Standardisation of the Hindi version of the Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire. Indian J Psychiatry 29: 63–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaviria M, Pathak D, Flaherty J, Garcia-Pacheco C, Martinez H, Wintrob R, Mitchell T (1984) Designing and adapting instruments for a cross-cultural study of immigration and mental health in Peru. Paper presented at the American Psychiatric Association Meeting

  • Goldberg DP (1972) The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. Mansley Monograph No. 21, University Press, London Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg D, Williams P (1988) A user's guide to the General Health Questionnaire. NFER, Windsor

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman A (1987) Anthropology and psychiatry. The role of culture in cross-cultural research on illness. Br J Psychiatry 151: 447–457

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leff JP (1977) The cross-cultural study of emotions. Cult Med Psychiatry 1: 317–350

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lobo A, Perez-Echeverria MJ, Artal J (1986) Validity of the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in a Spanish population. Psychol Med 16: 135–140

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paulo JR de, Folskin MF, Gordon B (1980) Psychiatric screening on a neurological word. Psychol Med 10: 125–132

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sartorius N, Brook EM (1973) Translation. In: The international pilot study of schizophrenia, Geneva, WHO

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen B (1987) Psychiatric phenomena in primary health care — their extent and nature. Indian J Psychiatry 29: 33–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Shamasundar C, Krishna Murthy S, Om Prakash, Prabhakar N, Subbakrishna DK (1986) Psychiatric morbidity in general practice in an Indian city. Br Med J 292(6537): 1713–1714

    Google Scholar 

  • Sriram TG, Radhika MR, Michael A, Chandrashekar CR (1987) Standardisation of the Kannada version of the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index. Int J Soc Psychiatry 33: 203–209

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tornapolsky A, Hand DJ, McLean EK, Roberts H, Wiggins RD (1979) Validity and uses of screening questionnaire (GHQ) in the community. Br J Psychiatry 134: 508–515

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vasquez-Barquero JL, Padierna Acero IA, Marton CP, Ochoteco A (1985) The psychiatric correlates of coronary pathology: validity of the GHQ-60 as a screening instrument. Psychol Med 15:589–596

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vieweg BW, Hedlund JL (1983) The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) — a comprehensive review. J Operat Psychiatry 14: 74–81

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, 560029, Bangalore, India

    T. G. Sriram, C. R. Chandrashekar & M. K. Isaac

  2. Department of Biostatistics, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, 560029, Bangalore, India

    V. Shanmugham

Authors
  1. T. G. Sriram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. R. Chandrashekar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. K. Isaac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. V. Shanmugham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sriram, T.G., Chandrashekar, C.R., Isaac, M.K. et al. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 24, 317–320 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01788035

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01788035

Keywords

Search

Navigation