The design and development of a screening questionnaire (CHQ) for use in community studies of mental disorders in Taiwan

Abstract

SynopsisThe problems which arise in the use of a psychiatric screening instrument in a language and culture other than that in which it was designed and developed are considered. An account is given of the development of a psychiatric screening questionnaire suitable for use in Chinese community samples. The questionnaire was derived from a Chinese translation of the General Health Questionnaire, with the addition of specially designed, culturally-relevant items. Discriminant function analysis was then used to select a subset of 12 items which discriminated well between ‘cases’ and ‘normals’ in the community.

Pesticide exposure and suicidal ideation in rural communities in Zhejiang Province, China

“…Although the GHQ has been translated into Chinese and validated in Chinese populations, it may nonetheless underestimate mental distress since it makes use of a 12-point scale that cannot encompass all forms of psychopathology, such as the expression of emotional distress through somatic complaints, which has been observed in Chinese populations. 23 The cross-sectional nature of the study does not enable the direction of cause and effect to be definitively inferred. It is possible that the possession of pesticides was a consequence of suicidal ideation, although we think that this is unlikely for the following reasons: (i) the hypothesized outcome was rare compared with pesticide exposure; (ii) the association between pesticide storage at home and suicidal ideation was independent of GHQ status; (iii) the association of interest was little affected by whether suicidal ideation throughout life or in the previous 2 years was defined as the outcome; and (iv) the association increased with ease of pesticide access.…”

Psychological Morbidity, Quality of Life and their Correlations among Military Health Care Workers in Taiwan

“…The participants were subdivided into potential cases (≥3) and non-cases (≤2). This optimum cutoff point provides the best compromise between high sensitivity and a low false-positive rate, based on the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.79 17) .…”

Is self‐efficacy a predictor of short‐term post‐surgical adjustment among Chinese women with breast cancer?

“…Psychological morbidity: The 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) (Cronbach's alpha ¼ 0.79 at baseline, 0.81 at 1-month postsurgery) [25] is based on Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire [26,27] adapted for the slightly different presentation of emotional distress among Chinese. The CHQ-12 is a validated and effective screening tool for psychological distress in Chinese non-psychiatric populations [25,28].…”

“…The CHQ-12 is a validated and effective screening tool for psychological distress in Chinese non-psychiatric populations [25,28]. The CHQ-12 measured anxiety and depression symptoms (psychological morbidity).…”