Reliability and Validity of the Kurdish version of General Health Questionnaire (K-GHQ)

General Health Questionnaire has been used for screening of mental health in many countries but, the valid and reliable Kurdish version of this questionnaire is not available. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Kurdish GHQ-28. The sample consists of 156 students selected by multistage cluster sampling among the students of Garmian University in 2018-19 academic years. First, the GHQ successfully translated into Kurdish and back translated into English by independent professional bilingual translators. After investigating and approving the validity and reliability of this version in a small group of 50 students from the research population, the final version was prepared for data collection. The result of investigating reliability using the test-retest (0.88), split-half (0.89) and Cronbach’s alpha (0.82), showed that the K-GHQ has adequate reliability.The validity was evaluated using the concurrent reliability of K-GHQ and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results showed that the correlation coefficient was significant (r=0.77, p<0.01) . Also, the correlations between the global score with subscales of KGHQ were all statistically significant (r=0.51-0.88, p < 0.01). It was concluded that the Kurdish version of General Health Questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for screening mental Health in Kurdish communities. Introduction General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is a self-administered questionnaire with multidimensional nature, designed to examine non-psychotic disorders in different community settings. It can be used for adolescents and adults of any age to discover the disability in normal people, and to investigate the disturbing events in life. However, GHQ does not have a diagnostic aspect, and only used for screening people in acute conditions (Goldberg & Hillier1979). It is also widely used internationally and in the Middle East to measure mental health status especially in detection of emotional disturbances such as distress (Jackson, 2007; Montazeri, Harrichi, Shariati and et al, 2003). This questionnaire was first designed by Goldberg in 1972 . The main form of the questionnaire involved 60 questions but, as needed, the shorter versions with 28, 12 and 30 questions were gradually designed and used (Goldberg & Williams, 1988). According to literature, the version with 28 items has been more valid and sensitive (Banles, 1983; Sterling, 2011). Ever since Goldberg introduced the GHQ in 1978, it has been translated into 38 different languages, testimony to validity and reliability of the questionnaire (Jackson, 2007). Reliability coefficients of the questionnaire ranged from 0.78 to 0.95 in various studies. 5 Conference for the language and Human Sciences (Special Issue), 2019 Page 956 Goldberg reported that the average area under the ROC curve was 0.88, range from 0.83 to 0.95, which reflect its validity (cited in Yusoff, 2010). Though GHQ is well-known and used in many studies around the world, if this tool used in a non-English speaking country for the first time, it is necessary to investigate the validity and reliability of translated version. Validity generally is defined as to what extent the measurement measures what it should measure, whereas reliability generally is defined as consistency or reproducibility of measurement over time or occasions (Indrayan, Satyanarayana, 2006; Downing, 2004). In many countries, investigation of validity and reliability has been carried out and after studying the validity and reliability of translated questionnaire, it has been used in many studies, for example Nazifi, Mokarami, Akbaritabar and et al (2013), investigated the reliability, validity and factor structure of the Persian translation of GHQ in Hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences. According to the evidence of this research this questionnaire has an appropriate internal consistency and an adequate validity for the assessment of general health in this sample. In another study Kim, Maeng, Park and et al, (2013) conducted a study to determine the thresholds associated with optimum sensitivity and specificity for the GHQ in a sample of 6,510 Korean adults. This study showed that the Korean version of the GHQ could be used to screen for individuals at high risk of mental disorders, namely mood and anxiety disorders. Zulkefly (2010) in a study on students investigated the reliability and factor structure of the GHQ in Malay language. The findings of the study affirm that the Malay version of GHQ is a good measure for assessing the overall psychological well-being of students in Malaysia. SalamaYounes, Montazeri, Ismaïl, and Roncin (2009) in another study on a French sample, investigated the factor structure and internal consistency of GHQ and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS) in elderly French people. The results showed that the French versions of GHQ and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS) are reliable measures of psychological distress and vitality. In another study reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Arabic version of GHQ was investigated by Daradkeh , Ghubash , el-Rufaie (2001) in a sample of 157 university students. Results showed that Arabic General Health Questionnaire was a reliable and valid screening tool in university settings. Considering the fact that this questionnaire has not yet been translated into Kurdish and its psychometric properties have not been investigated, the purpose of this study was to translate and evaluate the validity and reliability of Kurdish version of GHQ.