The factor structure of the GHQ - 60 in a community sample : a scaled

Background: The 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is constructed on the basis of a principal components analysis of the GHQ-60 (28 items selected and grouped under four subscales). When used on a Spanish population, a translation of the GHQ-28 developed for an English population logically yields worse predictive values. Methods: Data from a community study conducted in a town near Madrid was used to explore the factor structure of the 60-item version of the GHQ. Using the methodology employed in the original English version, a 28-item version of the GHQ was constructed based on the general Spanish population. Results: Two shorter versions were proposed: one with 6 scales and 30 items, and the other with four scales and 28 items. These and the 28-item Mexican versions were then compared to the English version. Conclusions: The resulting GHQ-28 was a successful adaptation for use on the Spanish population.