Screening for mental disorders in leprosy patients: comparing the internal consistency and screening properties of HADS and GHQ-12

[[[ 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. [[[ Methods: ]]] 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.