An Epidemiological Study of Psychiatric Disorders in East Azerbaijan Province (Year 2001)

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the developed countries has been identified by the screening questionnaires and standard clinical interviews at a high level, but the epidemiological studies of Psychological disorders in our country are brief and their numbers are few. Planning for providing essential mental health services to the people requires us to be knowledgeable about the present status of psychiatric disorders in the society. The objective of this research was to carry out the epidemiological study of the psychiatric disorders in the individuals 18 years and above in urban and rural areas of East Azerbaijan Province. Materials and Methods: One thousand two hundred and eighty six individuals selected through a randomized systematic and clustered sampling methods from the existing families of East Azerbaijan Province and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) questionnaires completed by the clinical psychologists. The diagnoses of the disorders were based on DSM-IV classification criteria. Results: The results of the study showed that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the study population of the Province is 15.33 percent which was 18.23 percent in the women and 12.51 percent in the men. The anxiety and mood disorders respectively with 8.48 and 2.89 percent had the highest prevalence in the Province. The prevalence of psychotic disorders in this study was 0.39 percent, neuro-cognitive disorders 1.94 percent and dissociative disorders 1.63 percent. In the group of mood disorders, major depression with 2.26 percent and in the group of anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder with 2.26 percent had the higher prevalence. Conclusion: This study showed that 10.89 percent of individuals that were studied, suffered from one of the psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of these disorders in the Province among the individuals in the age group of 66 years and above with 13.95 percent, individuals whose spouses had passed away 22.92 percent, residents of Tabriz city 12.45 percent, illiterate individuals 13.85 percent, retired individuals with 26.47 percent was more than other individuals in the sample. Being aware of this matter reveals the responsibility of the health policy-makers and programmers, prevention, treatment and medical education more than before in relation to preparing application and executive plans in East Azerbaijan Province for mental health.