Abstract

MARTINEZ HIGUEROS, Claudia Lorena; ALVAREZ IZAZAGA, Marsela Alejandra; DICKINSON BANNACK, Mª Eloísa  and  PADRON SOLOMON, Edith. Early Detection of Mental Health Disorders in Primary Care: Design, Validation and Reliability of the Questionnaire of Mental Health in Primary Care for Children 6 to 12 years. Rev Clin Med Fam [online]. 2010, vol.3, n.3, pp.170-176. ISSN 2386-8201.

Objective. Design, validity and reliability of a self-report questionnaire for mental health disorders in 6-12 year old children, to be used by general practitioners at primary care centers. Design. Cross-sectional study, validity of an instrument. Place. The study was conducted in two health services: A Primary Care Center and the outpatient department of the Child Psychiatric Hospital of Mexico City. Participants. Children between 6 and 12 years and parents or child-carers at the outpatient visits of the previously mentioned health services. Principal Measures. The questionnaire was designed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The study was carried out in three stages:1. Content validity through judges agreement. 2. Pilot questionnaire. 3. Construct validity was estimated through factorial analysis of main components. Results and conclusions: The questionnaire was shown to be valid for 10 disorders which correspond to a total of 41 items. The Chronbach´s coefficient was over 0.8 for each disorder. In conclusion, the questionnaire may be considered a valid, reliable instrument for use in the screening of mental health problems in children in Primary Care Centers.

Keywords : Mental Health; Primary Health Care.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )