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

Abstract

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 K-GHQ 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.