Researchers detail in 'The National Survey on Drug Use and Health Mental Health Surveillance Study: calibration analysis,' new data in mental health. 'The Mental Health Surveillance Study (MHSS) is an ongoing initiative by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop and implement methods for measuring the prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI) among adults in the USA. The 2008 MHSS used data from clinical interviews administered to a sub-sample of respondents to calibrate mental health screening scale data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for estimating the prevalence of SMI in the full NSDUH sample,' scientists writing in the International Journal of Methods In Psychiatric Research report.
'The mental health scales included the K6 screening scale of psychological distress (administered to all respondents) along with two measures of functional impairment (each administered to a random half-sample of respondents): the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) was administered to a sub-sample of 1506 adult NSDUH respondents within 4 weeks of completing the NSDUH interview. Results indicate that while SMI prediction accuracy of the K6 is improved by adding either the WHODAS or the SDS to the prediction equation, the models with the WHODAS are more robust,' wrote J. Aldworth and colleagues, RTI International.
The researchers concluded: 'The results of the calibration study and methods used to derive prevalence estimates of SMI are presented.'
Aldworth and colleagues published their study in International Journal of Methods In Psychiatric Research (The National Survey on Drug Use and Health Mental Health Surveillance Study: calibration analysis. International Journal of Methods In Psychiatric Research, 2010;19 Suppl 1():61-87).
Additional information can be obtained by contacting J. Aldworth, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC USA.
The publisher of the International Journal of Methods In Psychiatric Research can be contacted at: Whurr Publishers Ltd., 19B Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN, England.
Keywords: State:NC, Country:United States, Mental Health, Psychiatric, Psychiatry.
This article was prepared by Psychology & Psychiatry Journal editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2010, Psychology & Psychiatry Journal via NewsRx.com.
