title: Internal consistency and factor structure of 12-item general health questionnaire in visually impaired students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As there are no instruments to measure psychological wellness or distress in visually impaired students, we studied internal consistency and factor structure of GHQ-12 in visually impaired children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Internal consistency analysis (Cronbach's alpha and item total correlation) and exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis) were carried out to identify factor structure of 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All items of GHQ-12 were significantly associated with each other and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.7. On analysis of principal component, three-factor solution was found that accounted for 47.92% of the total variance. The factors included, 'general well-being', 'depression' and 'cognitive', with Cronbach's alpha coefficients being 0.70, 0.59, and 0.34, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study findings suggest GHQ-12 is a reliable with adequate internal consistency scale and multidimensional factor structure in visually impaired students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
authors.forename: Ajay Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Bakhla
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
authors.forename: Mahesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hembram
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Samir Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Praharaj
authors.affiliation: Professor of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
authors.forename: Vinod Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Sinha
keywords: Factor analysis; GHQ-12; principal component analysis; visual impairment