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Screening for psychiatric disorders in an area affected by the Chernobyl disaster: the reliability and validity of three psychiatric screening questionnaires in Belarus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. M. Havenaar ,
N. W. Poelijoe ,
A. P. Kasyanenko ,
J. Van Den Bout ,
M. W. J. Koeter  and
V. V. Filipenko
J. M. Havenaar*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht and the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Sociological Studies ‘Oracul’, Gomel and First Psychiatric Hospital of Gomel, Belarus
N. W. Poelijoe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht and the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Sociological Studies ‘Oracul’, Gomel and First Psychiatric Hospital of Gomel, Belarus
A. P. Kasyanenko
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht and the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Sociological Studies ‘Oracul’, Gomel and First Psychiatric Hospital of Gomel, Belarus
J. Van Den Bout
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht and the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Sociological Studies ‘Oracul’, Gomel and First Psychiatric Hospital of Gomel, Belarus
M. W. J. Koeter
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht and the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Sociological Studies ‘Oracul’, Gomel and First Psychiatric Hospital of Gomel, Belarus
V. V. Filipenko
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht and the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for Sociological Studies ‘Oracul’, Gomel and First Psychiatric Hospital of Gomel, Belarus
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr J. M. Havenaar, University Hospital of Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Postbox 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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Synopsis

The reliability and criterion validity of Russian versions of three psychiatric screening questionnaires (the General Health Questionnaire, 12-item version; the Goldberg scales for anxiety and depression; and, the Bradford Somatic Inventory) were assessed in the Gomel region (Belarus), one of the most severely contaminated areas that resulted from the nuclear power plant explosion at Chernobyl in 1986. All instruments were found to have good internal reliability indices. Retest reliability of the GHQ, not tested for in the other instruments, was modest. Criterion validity, using a semi-structured interview on the basis of the Munich Diagnostic Checklist for DSM-III-R as external criterion, was good for the Goldberg scales, but modest for the two other instruments.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , July 1996 , pp. 837 - 844
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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