The 12-Item General Health Questionnaire as an Effective Mental Health Screening Tool for General Korean Adult Population.
- Author:
Young Ju KIM
1
;
Maeng Je CHO
;
Subin PARK
;
Jin Pyo HONG
;
Jee Hoon SOHN
;
Jae Nam BAE
;
Hong Jin JEON
;
Sung Man CHANG
;
Hae Woo LEE
;
Jong Ik PARK
Author Information
1. Department of Psychiatry, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea. lugar@kangwon.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
GHQ-12;
Psychiatric diagnoses;
Sensitivity;
Specificity;
Optimal threshold
- MeSH:
Adult*;
Anxiety Disorders;
Censuses;
Humans;
Male;
Mass Screening*;
Mental Disorders;
Mental Health*;
Surveys and Questionnaires*;
ROC Curve;
Sensitivity and Specificity
- From:Psychiatry Investigation
2013;10(4):352-358
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has been used extensively in various settings across different cultures. This study was conducted to determine the thresholds associated with optimum sensitivity and specificity for the GHQ-12 in Korean adults. METHODS: Data was acquired from a sample of 6,510 Korean adults, ages 18 to 64 years old, who were selected from the 2005 Census (2,581 men and 3,929 women). Participants completed the GHQ-12 and the Korean Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The mean GHQ-12 score for the total sample was 1.63 (SD 1.98). The internal consistency of the GHQ-12 was good (Cronbach's alpha=0.72). Results from the ROC curve indicated that the GHQ-12 yielded greater accuracy when identifying mood and anxiety disorders than when identifying all mental disorders as a whole. The optimal threshold of the GHQ-12 was either 1/2 or 2/3 point depending on the disorder, but was mainly 2/3. CONCLUSION: The Korean version of the GHQ-12 could be used to screen for individuals at high risk of mental disorders, namely mood and anxiety disorders.
