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



Noorbala AA¹ ; Bagheri Yazdi SA² ; Faghihzadeh S³ ; Kamali K⁴ ; Faghihzadeh E⁵ ; Hajebi A⁶ ; Akhondzadeh S⁷ ; Ghazizadeh Hashemi F⁸ ; Asadi A² ; Niknejad M⁹ Show Affiliations
Source: Archives of Iranian Medicine Published:2017

Abstract

Introduction: The main objective of this study was to determine the mental health status of population aged 15 and over in the province of Alborz in the year 2015. Methods: The statistical population of this cross-sectional field survey consisted of residents of urban and rural areas of Alborz province in Iran. An estimated sample size of 1200 people was chosen using systematic random cluster sampling. Access was provided by the contribution of Geographical Post Office of Karaj, Mohammad Abad, and Nazar Abad cities. The General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) was used as the screening tool for mental disorders. The analysis of data in the current study was carried out using SPSS-18 software Results: Using GHQ traditional scoring method, the results showed that 19% of individuals (23.8% of females and 14.1% males) were suspected for mental disorders. The prevalence of suspected cases of mental disorders was 21.3% in urban and 13.8% in rural areas. It also showed that somatization and anxiety symptoms were more prevalent than social dysfunction and depression symptoms, and were more common in women than men. The results of this research also showed that the prevalence of suspected cases of mental disorders increased with aging. Such disorders were more common in females, age groups of 65 and above, people living in urban areas, divorced and widowed, illiterate and unemployed individuals compared with other groups. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that about one fifth of people in the province are suspected for mental disorders. Therefore, it is mandatory for the provincial public health authorities to take the needed steps to ensure that necessary requirements encompassing prevention and promotion of mental health are implemented. © 2017, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved.