Can the 12-item general health questionnaire be used to identify medical students who might ‘struggle’ on the medical course? A prospective study on two cohorts

Table 3 GHQ ‘caseness’ and course completion

Entry Year		Non-case (score < 4)		Case (score ≥ 4)		χ ²	OR	95% CI	p
		n	%	n	%
2006	Successful student *	101	94.4	46	80.7	7.50	4.03	1.40–11.55	0.006
2006	Less successful student †	6	5.6	11	19.3
2007	Successful student *	108	94.7	40	87.0				NS
2007	Less successful student †	6	5.3	6	13.0
		Non-case (score < 8)		Case (score ≥ 8)
2006	Successful student *	133	93.0	14	66.7				0.002 ‡
2006	Less successful student †	10	7.0	7	33.3
2007	Successful student *	141	94.0	7	70.0				0.03 ‡
	Less successful student †	9	6.0	3	30.0

* student completed on time, or legitimate reason for delay in high-performing student.
† student failed to complete on time due to course disruption or attrition.
‡ Fisher’s exact test.

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