Patterns of psychopathological manifestations among ethnic Chinese living in Brazil.
BACKGROUND
Common mental disorders (CMD) are critical issues in community studies. The 12-item version Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) has not been sufficiently explored for use in Chinese communities around the world. This paper evaluates CMD among ethnic Chinese living in Brazil, by examining its psychometric properties and factorial structure of CHQ-12.


METHODS
For 211 community subjects who completed the CHQ-12, we used the ROC curve analysis to calculate its internal consistency and criterion validity, adopting the interview SCAN as criterion. Principal component analysis was performed.


RESULTS
Considerable evidence was found for the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and item-total correlation of CHQ-12. The best cut-off point was 2/3,which allowed calculating criterion validity: 75%, sensitivity, 71% specificity, 55% PPV, 86% NPV, 28% misclassification rate and area under the ROC curve 0.728 (SE: 0.102, 95% CI: 0.528-0.927). The 3-dimensional structure of CHQ-12 could be described as somatic, depressive and worrying factor, accounting for 47.8% of the total variance.


CONCLUSIONS
When applied to the Brazilian Chinese community, the CHQ-12 presented comparable psychopathologic pattern, psychometric properties and factorial structure to that of Taiwan.
Instituto de Psiquiatria Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, R. Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos s/n., Caixa Postal 8091, CEP 05403-010, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. gnap_inbox@hotmail.com
Yuan-Pang
YP
Wang
Clarice
C
Gorenstein
Laura H
LH
Andrade
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010556:Personality Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013001:Somatoform Disorders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000208:ethnology