Psychometric properties of a Russian version of the General Health Questionnaire-28.
BACKGROUND
The 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) is a scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire that has been used internationally to screen for mental disorders in nonpsychiatric populations. There is great need to validate international screening instruments in the Russian language for their use in post-Soviet countries.


METHODS
200 persons were surveyed in a deprived area of Almaty, Kazakhstan using the Russian version of the GHQ-28 and socioeconomic measures (income level, employment situation and education). We calculated the median and the mean GHQ-28 scores for different socioeconomic subgroups. The internal reliability was tested using Cronbach's α coefficient and intersubscale correlations. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis using varimax rotation.


RESULTS
The median score of the GHQ-28 was 2 (mean = 3.56; SD = 5.09) for the total sample. Higher age, unemployment and female gender were significantly associated with high mean GHQ-28 scores. Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.92 for the total scale. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors explaining 50.07% of the variance. The factor Anxiety/Insomnia accounted for 14.87%, Severe Depression for 13.74%, Social Dysfunction for 13.47% and Somatic Symptoms for 8.81% of the variance.


CONCLUSIONS
The test showed good internal consistency. The median GHQ-28 score was relatively low compared to other countries. The subscale Severe Depression including items on suicidal ideation may have a lower acceptance than the other subscales Somatic Symptoms, Anxiety/Insomnia and Social Dysfunction.
Department of Communication Skills, Psychotherapy, General and Medical Psychology, Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Yuriy
Y
Ignatyev
Marat
M
Assimov
Marion C
MC
Aichberger
Sebastian
S
Ivens
Jan
J
Mir
Dauren
D
Dochshanov
Andreas
A
Ströhle
Andreas
A
Heinz
Adrian P
AP
Mundt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007623:Kazakhstan; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations