Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of mental disorders in the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

Journal: World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA)

Volume: 6

Issue: 3

Year of Publication: 2011

Affiliated Institutions:  Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA , USA;

Abstract summary 

Data are presented on the lifetime prevalence, projected lifetime risk, and age-of-onset distributions of mental disorders in the World Health Organization (WHO)'s World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. Face-to-face community surveys were conducted in seventeen countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. The combined numbers of respondents were 85,052. Lifetime prevalence, projected lifetime risk, and age of onset of DSM-IV disorders were assessed with the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), a fully-structured lay administered diagnostic interview. Survival analysis was used to estimate lifetime risk. Median and inter-quartile range (IQR) of age of onset is very early for some anxiety disorders (7-14, IQR: 8-11) and impulse control disorders (7-15, IQR: 11-12). The age-of-onset distribution is later for mood disorders (29-43, IQR: 35-40), other anxiety disorders (24-50, IQR: 31-41), and substance use disorders (18-29, IQR: 21-26). Median and IQR lifetime prevalence estimates are: anxiety disorders 4.8-31.0% (IQR: 9.9-16.7%), mood disorders 3.3-21.4% (IQR: 9.8-15.8%), impulse control disorders 0.3-25.0% (IQR: 3.1-5.7%), substance use disorders 1.3-15.0% (IQR: 4.8-9.6%), and any disorder 12.0-47.4% (IQR: 18.1-36.1%). Projected lifetime risk is proportionally between 17% and 69% higher than estimated lifetime prevalence (IQR: 28-44%), with the highest ratios in countries exposed to sectarian violence (Israel, Nigeria, and South Africa), and a general tendency for projected risk to be highest in recent cohorts in all countries. These results document clearly that mental disorders are commonly occurring. As many mental disorders begin in childhood or adolescents, interventions aimed at early detection and treatment might help reduce the persistence or severity of primary disorders and prevent the subsequent onset of secondary disorders.

Authors & Co-authors:  Kessler Ronald C RC Angermeyer Matthias M Anthony James C JC DE Graaf Ron R Demyttenaere Koen K Gasquet Isabelle I DE Girolamo Giovanni G Gluzman Semyon S Gureje Oye O Haro Josep Maria JM Kawakami Norito N Karam Aimee A Levinson Daphna D Medina Mora Maria Elena ME Oakley Browne Mark A MA Posada-Villa José J Stein Dan J DJ Adley Tsang Cheuk Him CH Aguilar-Gaxiola Sergio S Alonso Jordi J Lee Sing S Heeringa Steven S Pennell Beth-Ellen BE Berglund Patricia P Gruber Michael J MJ Petukhova Maria M Chatterji Somnath S Ustün T Bedirhan TB

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Cooper B. London: Croom Helm; 1987. Psychiatric epidemiology.
Authors :  28
Identifiers
Doi : 
SSN : 1723-8617
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
Mental disorders;age-of-onset distribution;lifetime prevalence;projected lifetime risk
Study Design
Case Control Trial,Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
Niger
Publication Country
Italy