The GHQ-28 questionnaire in French: a validation survey in a panel of 158 general psychiatric patients

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Abstract
As a pre-test validity study, a French version of the 28-item general health questionnaire was carried out on 158 general psychiatric patients, without any selection on diagnosis. These patients were concomitantly assessed by psychiatrists with a list of DSM III-R criteria for affective and anxiety disorders. Internal consistency of the questionnaire proved to be excellent. Principal component analysis provided a 4-factor solution, including a ‘depressive’ factor, close to that originally proposed by Goldberg and Hilllier (1979), but with some differences in the loading of insomnia. Although there were some differences in case distribution between the centres, this study confirms internal validity of the GHQ-28 as a screening instrument for psychiatric research.