Internal consistency and factor structure of 12-item general health questionnaire in visually impaired students

As there are no instruments to measure psychological wellness or distress in visually impaired students, we studied internal consistency and factor structure of GHQ-12 in visually impaired children.

Internal consistency analysis (Cronbach's alpha and item total correlation) and exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis) were carried out to identify factor structure of 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12).

All items of GHQ-12 were significantly associated with each other and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.7. On analysis of principal component, three-factor solution was found that accounted for 47.92% of the total variance. The factors included, 'general well-being', 'depression' and 'cognitive', with Cronbach's alpha coefficients being 0.70, 0.59, and 0.34, respectively.

Our study findings suggest GHQ-12 is a reliable with adequate internal consistency scale and multidimensional factor structure in visually impaired students.