Lifetime and 1-Month Prevalence of Mental Disorders in Hebei Province, China: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of mental disorders is an important topic, which has been reported in different countries in the world. In China, some studies were also conducted to get the prevalence of mental disorders at the national level and in some metropolitan cities. However, the prevalence of mental disorders in Chinese underdeveloped provinces has not been reported internationally in recent decades. Due to the discrepancy in the social-economic development of different Chinese provinces, we also have reasons to believe the different prevalence of mental disorders between underdeveloped provinces and other provinces.Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among community residents aged 18 years and older in Hebei province, China. We screened 20,884 community residents in this study, and a Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) Axis I disorders was used to make the diagnoses of mental disorders.Results: The weighted lifetime prevalence of mental disorders was 15.87% (95% CI 15.38–16.38%), and the 1-month prevalence was 10.79% (95% CI 10.37–11.22%). Anxiety disorder ranked first in the classification of mental disorders for both lifetime (6.56%) and 1-month prevalence (6.25%). The weighted lifetime and 1-month region–gender–age-specific prevalence of mental disorders was also analyzed in this study.Conclusions: Mental disorders have been an important issue in Chinese economically underdeveloped regions, and the prevalence was at a high level compared with the results in the 2000s. There are several serious challenges in the work of Chinese mental disorders, which should be paid more attention to.

Gender differences in association of urbanization with psychological stress in Chinese adults: A population-based study

“…China has witnessed unprecedented urbanization and associated rural depopulation over the past 40 years, along with a huge increase in the total population (10,11). The rapid migration and urbanization process in China has led to pronounced changes in community composition and its characteristics (12), evoking great scholarly interest in the effects of urbanization on mental health for Chinese people (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Most studies suggested an inverse relationship between urbanization and mental health (14,16,19), with urban living related to a lower prevalence of developing mental health problems (such as schizophrenia, dementia, cognitive impairment, and mood disorders) (14,16,17).…”

“…The rapid migration and urbanization process in China has led to pronounced changes in community composition and its characteristics (12), evoking great scholarly interest in the effects of urbanization on mental health for Chinese people (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Most studies suggested an inverse relationship between urbanization and mental health (14,16,19), with urban living related to a lower prevalence of developing mental health problems (such as schizophrenia, dementia, cognitive impairment, and mood disorders) (14,16,17). Especially residence in highly urbanized areas was associated with lower depressive symptoms (20).…”

“…Meanwhile, gender affects each element in the stress process as much as the input by deciding whether a situation will be stressful at the output ( 28 ). Previous epidemiological studies have revealed that women are more likely to suffer from higher psychological stress than men ( 29 – 31 ) and develop greater mental health problems ( 14 , 16 , 17 ). Therefore, these observations suggest the possibility of gender-specific differences in the effects of urbanization on psychological stress.…”