Utility of the psychiatric screen among the Navajo of Chinle: a fourth-year clerkship experience.

Abstract

This study presents a trial in which the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was introduced among general medicine clinic patients on a Navajo Indian reservation in Chinle, Arizona, to test its utility in enhancing recognition of significant psychiatric problems. It was found useful in alerting physicians to suicidal patients, and in identifying risk factors such as household size and number of children for symptoms of anxiety and depression. The few problems encountered in administration of the screening tool could easily be overcome.