A Survey on Mental Health Status of Adult Population Aged 15 and Above in the Province of North Khorasan, Iran Pubmed



Noorbala AA¹ ; Bagheri Yazdi SA² ; Faghihzadeh S³ ; Kamali K⁴ ; Faghihzadeh E⁵ ; Hajebi A⁶ ; Akhondzadeh S⁷ ; Akbari A⁸ ; Yousefnejad Z⁹ Show Affiliations
Source: Archives of Iranian Medicine Published:2017

Abstract

Introduction: This research aims to determine the mental health status of population aged 15 and over in the province of North Khorasan in 2015. Methods: The statistical population of this cross-sectional field survey consisted of residents of urban and rural areas of North Khorasan in Iran. Through systematic random cluster sampling, 1200 individuals were selected from the residents of urban and rural areas of of Bojnourd, Sfaraien and Shirvan. The 28-item version of the General Health Questionnaire was applied as the screening tool. The data were analyzed using SPSS, version 18.0 for windows. Results: This study showed that using the traditional scoring method, 22.2% of the subjects (28% of females and 16.4% of males) were suspected of mental disorders. The prevalence of suspected psychiatric disorders in urban areas (23.9%) was higher than the prevalence of these disorders in rural areas (18.3%). The prevalence of suspected anxiety and the somatization of symptoms was higher than the prevalence of social dysfunction and depression, and the prevalence of these components was higher in women than men. The findings of this study also showed that the prevalence of suspected mental disorders increased significantly with age. The prevalence of suspected cases of these disorders was higher among women, the age group of 65 and older, people living in urban areas, divorced and widowed, illiterate, and retired people compared to the other groups. Conclusion: The results of this study show that more than one fifth of the sample were suspected of mental disorders. Therefore, health authorities and administrators need to take the principle measures to ensure and maintain the mental health of individuals as well as the evaluation and treatment of patients with mental disorders. © 2017, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved.