An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the General Health Questionnaire in an Occupational Therapy Setting

Abstract

This article is based on results obtained during a pilot study carried out at the Psychiatric Unit, Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton (South London) as part of a student project evaluating the effectiveness of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ30) to monitor the psychiatric status of 30 patients attending the occupational therapy department of a day hospital. The sample was selected by the head occupational therapist and contained both day patients and inpatients. The results of the GHQ assessment were compared with an independent assessment carried out by the head occupational therapist. Using the occupational therapist's assessment as a validating criterion the GHQ30 appears to be a qualified success in this setting, performing well in terms of ‘misclassification’ and ‘sensitivity’ but poorly in terms of ‘specificity’. The authors would not advise that the GHQ act as an independent arbiter of psychiatric status but it may well be a useful aid to decision making in patient review.