LEPROSY
Leprosy Review
0305-7518
British Leprosy Relief Association
Colchester, UK
23-1242
0305-7518/07/064053+12
10.47276/lr.78.3.231
Original Papers
Screening for mental disorders in leprosy patients: comparing the internal consistency and screening properties of HADS and GHQ-12
V. Senturk et al.
Screening for mental disorders in leprosy patients
StewartRobert
bSagduyuAfsin
ca
Department of Psychiatry, Ankara University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey
b
King’s College London (Institute of Psychiatry), London, UK
c
Department of Psychiatry, Baskent University Medical Hospital, Izmir, Turkey
Correspondence to: Vesile Senturk, Section of Epidemiology (Box 60) Institute of Psychiatry (King’s College London), De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom (Tel: +44 207 8480495; Fax: +44 207 2770283; e-mail: ves@ttnet.net.tr, vesile.senturk@iop.kcl.ac.uk)
01092007
78
3
231
242
05042007
© Lepra
2007
Objective
The aim of the study was to investigate the internal consistency and screening properties of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in Turkish patients with leprosy.
Method
The two screening instruments and a fully structured diagnostic interview (CIDI) were administered to 65 people drawn from all leprosy inpatient units in Turkey between March and June of 2001. The scales were evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses. For each scale, criterion validity was assessed for any psychiatric disorder, depressive disorder and anxiety disorder.
Results
The Cronbach alpha coefficients for the GHQ-12 and HADS were 0.84 and 0.81 respectively. For detecting any psychiatric disorder, the optimal cut-off for the GHQ-12 was 4/5 (sensitivity 0.82, specificity 0.62). The optimal cut-off for the HADS total score was 12/13 (sensitivity 0.80, specificity 0.77).
Conclusion
The results indicate that the General Health Questionnaire-12 and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale have satisfactory internal consistency, and performed well to a similar extent for detecting psychiatric disorders in leprosy patients.