Screening for psychiatric disorders in medical patients: a feasibility and patient acceptance study.
This study examines whether medical patients were bothered or upset by being asked to complete a questionnaire about emotional and substance use problems, and whether a newly developed, brief questionnaire that screens for several psychiatric disorders (the SCREENER) was easy for patients to complete. A consecutive series of outpatients attending the General Medical Clinic at the Philadelphia Veterans Affair Medical Center (VAMC) was approached to ask their participation in a research study requiring the completion of a brief questionnaire about their emotions, moods, thoughts, and behaviors, and a second questionnaire that asked their opinion about the first measure. Only 3.1% of the patients indicated that the questions were difficult to answer, whereas 84.6% found the questions easy or very easy to answer. Between 80% to 90% of the patients were not embarrassed, upset, annoyed, or uncomfortable by answering the questions. Individuals with a history of psychiatric treatment and poorer current mental health were the most likely to have a negative reaction to the questionnaire. Thus, the medical patients in this study reacted favorably to the completion of a broad-based questionnaire about emotional problems. The questions were judged easy to answer and rarely aroused significant negative affect.
Zimmerman
M
M
Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19129.
Farber
N J
NJ
Hartung
J
J
Lush
D T
DT
Kuzma
M A
MA
D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015143:Philadelphia; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires