General Health Questionnaire

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Use the General Health Questionnaire to identify minor psychiatric disorders in the general population and within community or non-psychiatric clinical settings such as primary care or general medical out-patients.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is a screening device for identifying minor psychiatric disorders in the general population and within community or non-psychiatric clinical settings such as primary care or general medical out-patients.  Suitable for all ages from adolescent upwards – not children, it assesses the respondent’s current state and asks if that differs from his or her usual state. It is therefore sensitive to short-term psychiatric disorders but not to long-standing attributes of the respondent.

What It’s Best Used For

• Non-Psychiatric Clinical Screening: Identifying minor psychological distress patterns within community health initiatives, primary care offices, and general medical outpatient clinics to inform downstream clinical interventions.
• Targeting Population Health Trends: Conducting broad mental wellness and epidemiologic screening across the general population for anyone from adolescents upward (excluding children).
• Evaluating Core Psychological Scales: Deploying the specialized GHQ-28 scaled version to distinctly assess somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression.
• Streamlining Medical Research Studies: Utilizing the ultra-short GHQ-12 variant as a rapid, sensitive, and reliable screening shortcut for quick-turn medical research data collection.
• Bypassing Somatic and Physical Bias: Administering the GHQ-30 short-form module to assess mental well-being while intentionally omitting questions related to physical illness.
• Comprehensive Diagnostic Mapping: Executing the fully detailed GHQ-60 questionnaire to gather a highly detailed, 60-item baseline assessment of an individual’s current mental state.
• Establishing Localized Validity Metrics: Helping clinical researchers design and set up their own localized validation metrics by relying on the comprehensive guidance provided in the official GHQ User’s Guide.

Disclaimer: This overview describes a legacy screening tool for educational comparison. It does not constitute medical advice or a clinical diagnosis. If you or your clients are experiencing a medical or mental health condition, please consult a licensed healthcare professional.

• The self-administered questionnaire focuses on two major areas:
• The inability to carry out normal functions
• The appearance of new and distressing phenomena.

It is available in the following versions:

• GHQ-60: the fully detailed 60-item questionnaire
• GHQ-30: a short form without items relating to physical illness
• GHQ-28: a 28 item scaled version – assesses somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression
• GHQ-12: a quick, reliable and sensitive short form – ideal for research studies.

Why use the General Health Questionnaire?

• The self-administered questionnaire is an ideal screening device for identifying non-psychotic and minor psychiatric disorders to help inform further intervention
• General Health Questionnaire is available in four different versions, enabling researchers and clinicians to select the version most appropriate to their individual requirements
• For researchers intending to set-up their own localized validation studies – the GHQ User’s Guide provides guidance and advice.

Different versions: GHQ-60, GHQ-30, GHQ-28 and GHQ-12.