TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychiatric diagnosis in family practice
T2 - Is the general health questionnaire an effective screening instrument?
AU - Overton, Gene W.
AU - Wise, Thomas N.
PY - 1980/6
Y1 - 1980/6
N2 - The General Health Questionnaire has been considered an effective screening instrument in a family practice population. To evaluate its efficiency in identifying psychologic distress, 1,000 consecutive attenders at the Family Practice Clinic were given the 30 item GHQ. Of the patients from the sample, 33% were identified by the GHQ as having psychologic distress. In contradistinction, 14.8% of the group were given clinical psychiatric diagnoses by the physician. The presence of a positive GHQ score did not correlate with frequency of follow-up visits or other behavioral parameters. The presence of a psychiatric diagnosis, however, was significantly associated with frequency of follow-up visits. These findings do not invalidate the General Health Questionnaire but may reflect low case identification. The health behavior of patients with psychologic distress may be, in part, a function of the labeling process as well as the emotional illness itself.
AB - The General Health Questionnaire has been considered an effective screening instrument in a family practice population. To evaluate its efficiency in identifying psychologic distress, 1,000 consecutive attenders at the Family Practice Clinic were given the 30 item GHQ. Of the patients from the sample, 33% were identified by the GHQ as having psychologic distress. In contradistinction, 14.8% of the group were given clinical psychiatric diagnoses by the physician. The presence of a positive GHQ score did not correlate with frequency of follow-up visits or other behavioral parameters. The presence of a psychiatric diagnosis, however, was significantly associated with frequency of follow-up visits. These findings do not invalidate the General Health Questionnaire but may reflect low case identification. The health behavior of patients with psychologic distress may be, in part, a function of the labeling process as well as the emotional illness itself.
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U2 - 10.1097/00007611-198006000-00025
DO - 10.1097/00007611-198006000-00025
M3 - Article
C2 - 7394601
AN - SCOPUS:0019297543
SN - 0038-4348
VL - 73
SP - 763
EP - 764
JO - Southern medical journal
JF - Southern medical journal
IS - 6
ER -