Background:

The PRIME-MD was developed by Professor Robert Spitzer and colleagues to assist general practitioners in the diagnosis of minor psychiatric disorders. It has two features which make it suitable for use cross-culturally. First, it covers a wide range of psychosomatic symptoms, which are a common expression of psychological distress in many cultural groups. Second, all questions are in simple everyday language and require "yes"/"no" answers. It yields diagnoses consistent with the DSM- IV psychiatric classification system.

The questionnaire consists of two parts, a self-report patient questionnaire, and a series of interview models for mood disorder, anxiety disorder, psychosomatic disorder, alcohol abuse and eating disorder.

Translation:

The translation was based on World Health Organisation guidelines. It consisted of the following phases:

1. Initial translation by a specialist health interpreter

2. Modification by a panel of bilingual mental health professionals assisted by the project coordinator

3. Field trial by bilingual general practitioners

4. Further modification by bilingual panel based on comments by general practitioners

5. Final check and proofreading by second translator

Throughout this process it was emphasised that the language used should be simple so that it would be comprehensible to the maximum number of people. Medical terms and less-familiar words were avoided.

Questionnaires:

To view and print the questionnaires, Adobe Acrobat Reader is required. Click on the links below to download the files.

Patient Questionnaires: Greek_PQ, Ital_PQ, Viet_PQ

Interview Modules: Greek_IM, Ital_IM, Viet_IM

The translation was partly funded by the copyright holder, Pfizer Pty. Ltd., whose support is gratefully acknowledged. English language manuals may be obtained by contacting your local Pfizer representative.