title: Validity of the mental health component scale of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (MCS-12) as measure of common mental disorders in the general population.
abstract: This study assessed the screening utility of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey's (SF-12) mental health component scale (MCS-12) for diagnosable depression and anxiety disorders in a general population sample, and thus, the validity of this scale as a measure of mental health in epidemiological research. Data were from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (N=10,504). Diagnoses were made using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The MCS-12 was compared to other brief scales: the RAND Mental Health Component scale (RAND MHC-12, an alternative scoring method for the MCS-12), the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10 and K6), and an estimate of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5). The MCS-12 and RAND MHC-12 were equally able to discriminate respondents with the target diagnoses. The MCS-12 performed better than the GHQ-12, and equally to the K6 for diagnoses of depression, though not anxiety disorders, where the K6 showed greater utility. The K10 out-performed the MCS-12 for all diagnoses. Areas under receiver operating characteristics curves (AUC) indicated that the MCS-12 is valid measure of mental health in epidemiological research, and a useful screening tool for both depression (AUC=0.92) and anxiety disorders (AUC=0.83).
authors: Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Sarah.Gill@anu.edu.au
authors: Sarah C
authors: SC
authors: Gill
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Butterworth
authors: Bryan
authors: B
authors: Rodgers
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Mackinnon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results