Determinants of the Diagnosis of Psychological Problems by Primary Care Physicians In Patients With Normal GHQ-28 Scores Ellen Rosenberg, MD, Marie-The ´re `se Lussier, MD, MSc, Claude Beaudoin, MD, PhD, Laurence J. Kirmayer, MD, Guillaume Galbaud Dufort, MD, PhD In studies comparing the performance of psychomet- ric instruments and general practitioners in the iden- tification of psychological disorders, authors usually treat the psychometric instrument as the gold stan- dard. Some patients may have no psychiatric diagnosis and normal scores on self-report measures of distress, but still benefit from detection and treatment of their psychosocial problems. However, physicians may be spending valuable time identifying problems in pa- tients who have no disability. The extent and implica- tions of the discrepancy between clinician assessment and standard instruments requires further exploration. Adult patients of 40 family physicians completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) before their visit. Immediately following the visit, physicians, who were blind to the patient’s GHQ score, indicated whether they had detected any signs or symptoms of anxiety, depression, somatization, or other psychoso- Reprinted from Rosenberg E, Lussier MT, Beaudoin C, et al. Determinants of the diagnosis of psychological problems by primary care physicians in patients with normal GHQ-28 scores. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2002;24:322-327 with permission. Dis Mon 2003;49:249-260 0011-5029/2003 $30.00 + 0 10.1067/mda.2003.27 DM, April 2003 249