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

Introduction: The burden of psychiatric disorders in the developed countries has identified by the screening questionnaires and standard clinical interviews at a high level, but the epidemiological studies of psychiatric 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 who were 18 years old and above in urban and rural areas in 1380 of Lorestan province. Materials & Methods: 546 individuals were selected through randomized systematic and clustered sampling methods from among the existing families of Lorestan province, clinical psychologist completed the Schedule for Affective Disorders, and Schizophrenia (SADS) questionnaires. The diagnosis of the disorders based on DSM-IV classification criteria. Findings: The results of the study showed that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the province was 19.05 percent, which was 23.81 percent in the women, and 14.29 percent in the men. The anxiety and mood disorders with 12.46 and 3.48 percent had the higher prevalence in the province respectively. The prevalence of psychotic disorders in this study was 1.48 percent, neuro-cognitive disorders were 1.47 percent and dissociative disorders 0.18 percent. In the group of mood disorders, major depression with 2.20 percent and in the group of anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorder with 5.68 percent had the higher prevalence. Conclusion: This study showed that 11.36 percent of individuals that studied suffered from minimum one of the psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the province among the individuals in the age group of 26-40 with 14.57 percent, divorced or separated individuals with 25 percent, residents of Khorramabad city 14.85 percent, higher educated individuals 19.51 percent and retired individuals 18.75 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 Lorestan province for mental health.