Measuring the needs of mental health patients in Greece: Reliability and validity of the Greek version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need

Background: Evaluation of mental health services based on patients' needs assessments has never taken place in Greece, although it is a crucial factor for the efficient use of their limited resources. Aim: To examine the inter-rater and test-retest reliability and the concurrent/convergent validity of the Greek research version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need-Research (CAN-R). Method: A total of 53 schizophrenic patient-staff pairs were interviewed twice to test the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Greek version of the CAN-R. The World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Form (WHOQOL-BREF) and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-2.0 (WHODAS-2.0) were administered to the patients to examine concurrent validity. Results: The inter-rater and test-retest reliability of patient and staff interviews for the 22 individual items and the eight summary scores of the instrument's four sections were good to excellent. Significant correlations emerged between CAN scores and the WHOQOL-BREF and WHODAS-2.0 domains for both patient and staff ratings, indicating good concurrent validity. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the Greek version of the CAN-R is a reliable instrument for assessing mental health patients' needs. Moreover, it is the first CAN-R validity study with satisfactory results using WHOQOL-BREF and WHODAS-2.0 as criterion variables.