Dimensions and reliability of a questionnaire for the evaluation of subjective experiences of health among patients in mental health services

Abstract

Even though the concept of health and its importance has been widely discussed in health care during recent decades, mental health services have been criticised for adopting a biomedical perspective, which does not sufficiently consider the concept of health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Health Questionnaire, a newly developed questionnaire to measure patients' subjective experience of health in mental health services. A cross sectional study was performed using a sample of 139 outpatients in mental health services. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to test the factor structure of the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha was employed to test internal consistency and Cohen's Kappa assessed test-retest reliability. The final scale, which contained 22 items, derived from three factors (autonomy, social involvement, and comprehensibility) and showed a good reliability in terms of internal consistency. Test-retest reliability was moderate or better for 17 out of 22 items. The Health Questionnaire may enable further empirical studies on subjectively experienced health in mental health services and serve as a measure of outcome and to monitor quality of care.