CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE GENERAL HEALTHQUESTIONNAIRE GHQ-12, IN PERUVIAN DENTISTS.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the psychometric measurement properties of the GHQ-12 General Health
Questionnaire, in a sample of Peruvian dentists. Methods: Instrumental study, 260 dentists from the region of Ica-Peru participated, selected by non-probabilistic sampling by disposition. Variability and correlation analysis of the items, exploratory factorial analysis (AFE), and to validate the internal structure of the questionnaire, confirmatory factorial analysis (AFC), which included the method of maximum robust
likelihood estimation, were carried out; finally, we evaluated the reliability of the instrument. Results: The
findings confirm item variability indexes from 0.30 to 0.71; with item-total correlation values from 0.48 to
0. .79; the AFC, based on two models (one-dimensional and two-dimensional), proposed by literature,
showed that goodness-of-fit indexes were adequate in the two-factor model. The global internal
consistency showed a satisfactory index (α=0.88); as well as, the general dysphoria (α=0.85) and social
dysfunction (α=0.77) dimensions. Conclusions: The GHQ-12 General Health Questionnaire presents
acceptable metric properties; therefore, it can be used in future research and validation studies.