Swedish population norms for the GHRI, HI and STAI-state

This paper presents reference values for two questionnaires measuring general health, the General Health Rating Index (GHRI) and the Health Index (HI) and one questionnaire measuring anxiety state, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-state). The sample used was randomly selected from a Swedish urban population consisting of 180 individuals (90 men, 90 women), divided into three age groups, 26-45, 46-65 and > 65 years. There was a main effect for age on the total GHRI score. The GHRI score was lower for older than for younger people, which is in agreement with earlier studies. For the HI there were main effects both for gender and age and no interaction was found. Although the sample size is small our result was in agreement to earlier studies and to health statistics in Sweden 1989. The health measures significantly correlated with the scores of anxiety inventory used. The total GHRI scores correlated positively and significantly with the HI scale (r = 0.7, p < 0.001). The GHRI and HI scales correlated negatively and significantly with the STAI scale (r = -0.4, p < 0.001, r = -0.4, p < 0.001) respectively. Thus, the better the general health the lower the rated anxiety. The value of health status measures in clinical research is reasonably well established, but their values for clinical care are less clear. The use for health index scores for quality assurance purpose is almost unexplored and could possibly be used for outcome measures in evaluating areas of nursing interventions. The short Health Index is one possible outcome measure.