MEASURING PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING - THE ADAPTED GENERAL WELL-BEING INDEX IN A PRIMARY-CARE SETTING - A TEST OF VALIDITY

The measurement of health outcomes is central to the development of he alth services. Many acute and chronic illnesses and health interventio ns have implications for mental health. This study tests the validity of a 22 item measure of psychological well-being, the adapted general well-being index (AGWBI). A postal health survey, including the AGWBI, was sent to a 10% random sample of patients aged 16 or over drawn fro m the computerized list of one general practice. Two hundred and sixty -six respondents returned questionnaires (a response rate of 76%). The AGWBI was fully completed by 94% (249) of the respondents who returne d their questionnaires. Only respondents who fully completed the AGWBI are included in the analysis. The AGWBI significantly discriminated p eople with a limiting long term illness, those reporting suffering fro m anxiety, depression or bad nerves, users of general practitioner ser vices over the previous two weeks and respondents reporting taking ant idepressants, tranquillizers or sleeping tablets. It was also able to discriminate respondents with psychosocial difficulties in a small sub -sample who reported that they were in excellent health and did not ha ve a limiting long term health problem or psychological illness. The r esults are broadly supportive of the validity of the AGWBI and suggest it may be appropriate for use in the evaluation of several developing areas of primary care. Further research is needed to test concurrent validity, responsiveness and to establish population norms.