Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:49:36.805Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Validation of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire in postpartum women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

P. N. Nott*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Southampton
S. Cutts
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Southampton
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr P. N. Nott, Department of Psychiatry, University of Southampton, Southampton, S09 4PE.

Synopsis

Two hundred consecutive women from five Southampton general practices who were between 8 and 14 weeks postpartum were visited at home. Each subject was given the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and a standardized psychiatric interview. Thirty-seven (18%) were identified as ‘cases’ by the psychiatric interview. Eighty-nine (44.5%) scored highly on the GHQ. Analysis of the results indicates that slight modification of the content and a raised cut-off point of the GHQ-30 make it a useful screening instrument for postpartum psychiatric disorder.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cox, J. L. (1978). Some socio-culturai determinants of psychiatric morbidity associated with childbearing. In Mental Illness in Pregnancy and the Puerperium (ed. Sandler, M.), pp. 9198. Oxford University Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Eastwood, M. R. (1971). Screening for psychiatric disorder. Psychological Medicine 1, 197208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D. P. (1972). The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire. Maudsley Monographs no. 21. Oxford University Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P., Cooper, B., Eastwood, M. R., Kedward, H. B. & Shepherd, M. (1970). A standardised psychiatric interview for use in community surveys. British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine 24, 1823.Google ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D. P., Rickels, K., Downing, R. & Hesbacher, P. (1976). A comparison of two psychiatric screening tests. British Journal of Psychiatry 129, 6167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ingham, J. G. & Miller, P. McC. (1976). The concept of prevalence applied to psychiatric disorders and symptoms. Psychological Medicine 6, 217225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumar, R. & Robson, K. (1978). Neurotic disturbance during pregnancy and the puerperium: preliminary report of a prospective survey of 119 primiparae. In Mental Illness in Pregnancy and the Puerperium (ed. Sandler, M.), pp. 4051. Oxford University Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Emms, E. M., Fletcher, J. & Rassaby, E. S. (1980). Life events and social support in puerperal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry 136, 339349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitt, B. (1968). Psychiatric illness following childbirth. Hospital Medicine 2, 815818.Google Scholar
Tarnopolsky, A., Hand, D. J., McLean, E. K., Roberts, H. & Wiggins, R. D. (1979). Validity and uses of a screening questionnaire (GHQ) in the community. British Journal of Psychiatry 134, 508515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, P., Tarnopolsky, A. & Hand, D. (1980). Case definition and case identification in psychiatric epidemiology: review and assessment. Psychological Medicine 10, 101114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wing, J. K., Bebbington, P. & Robins, L. N. (eds.) (1981). What is a Case? The Problem of Definition in Psychiatric Community Surveys. Grant Mcintyre: London.Google Scholar