The Mental Health Screening Form-III Filipino Version is a screening questionnaire for use among clients who are seeking treatment for either drug use disorders to screen for cooccurring disorders or psychiatric comorbidity. There are two sections of the questionnaire to screen for any prior history of mental health distress or disorder and a second section with each item corresponding to a probable disorder. The recommendation made by the creators of the MHSF-III was that specialist consultation should be arranged if any of Items in the second section (Items 5 through 17) were endorsed with a "yes" response (Carroll & McGinley, 2000). A "yes" response to any of questions 5 through 17 does not, by itself, ensure that a mental health problem exists currently. A "yes" response raises only the possibility of a current problem, which is why a consultation with a mental health specialist is strongly recommended.
Has the MSHF-III Filipino Version been evaluated?
The Mental Health Screening Form – III Filipino Version has been validated and translated from the original English Version by Jerome F. Carroll and John L E McGinley.
The translation and validation of the MSHF-III Filipino was the major output from a master’s thesis entitled “Content Validity Assessment and Translation of the Mental Health Screening Form III (MHSF-III) as a Screening Tool for Psychiatric Comorbidity in Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers”. Initially intended for drug treatment and rehabilitation center setting but with the transition to new normal due to COVID pandemic, its applicability as a validated tool in telehealth is being explored.
In 2019-2020 we completed a mixed-methods translation and evaluation of the MSHF-III Filipino Version. During this evaluation study, evaluation was done among patients in residential treatment setting and expert panel validation was completed among psychiatrists, toxicologist, clinical psychologists, and social workers with experience on working in drug treatment rehabilitation centers or primary treatment settings. Results from this study are promising, indicating that the MSHF-III Filipino is a useful screening tool, is easy to use, and has acceptable validation indices properties.
Who are the intended users of the MSHF-III Filipino?
The primary end user of the results of the study are the primary care treatment providers that include drug and alcohol counselors, licensed clinical social workers and psychologists who specialize in addiction treatment, and specialty practice registered nurses (psychiatric and mental health nurses). Physicians providing care for clients with substance use disorders may also use this questionnaire when encountering patients for screening psychiatric comorbidity or CODs.
What training do I need to use the MSHF-III Filipino ?
The MSHF-III Filipino was designed to be as easy to use as possible. We have provided detailed scoring or rating guidance for the questionnaire. We have developed a recorded video on how to use and score the questionnaire for both.
What consent should be obtained prior to administration of the questionnaire?
If the web-based version will be used, a consent form is provided detailing confidentiality and a debriefing form will be available.
Related publications
Carroll, J. F., & McGinley, J. J. (2001). A screening form for identifying mental health problems in alcohol/other drug dependent persons. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 19(4), 33-47.
Mortlock, K. S., Deane, F. P., & Crowe, T. P. (2011). Screening for mental disorder comorbidity in Australian alcohol and other drug residential treatment settings. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 40(4), 397–404. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2011.01.002