Prevalence and associated factors of mental disorders in the nationwide primary care population in Latvia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Mental disorders are common amongst patients in primary care. There are no published studies on the prevalence of mental disorders in primary care patients in Latvia. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the current prevalence of mental disorders in the nationwide Latvian primary care population and to study possible associated factors and comorbidity of mental disorders. Methods: A cross-sectional study within the framework of the National Research Program BIOMEDICINE 2014-2017 was performed at 24 primary care settings across Latvia. Adult patients seen over a 1-week time period at each facility were invited to participate in the study. Sociodemographic variables (age, sex, education, employment and marital status, place of residence, and ethnicity) were assessed onsite. A Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview assessment was conducted over the telephone within 2 weeks after the visit to the general practitioner (GP). Results: Overall, 1485 individuals completed the interview. The current prevalence of any mental disorder was 37.2% and was significantly greater in women. Mood disorders (18.4%), suicidality (18.6%) and anxiety disorders (15.8%) were the most frequent diagnostic categories. The current prevalence of any mood disorder was associated with being 50-64 years of age, female sex, economically inactive status, divorced or widowed marital status and urban place of residence, whilst any current anxiety disorder was associated with female sex, lower education, and single marital status; however, being of Russian ethnicity and residing in a small city were protective factors. Suicidality was associated with female sex, lower education, unemployment or economically inactive status, being divorced or widowed and residing in a small city. The comorbidity rates between mental disorders varied from 2.9 to 53.3%. Conclusions: High prevalence rates of mental disorders, comorbidity and certain associated socio-demographic factors were found in primary care settings in Latvia. This highlights the importance of screening for depression and anxiety disorders and suicidal risk assessment by GPs. The results are fundamentally important for integrative medicine, monitoring and promotion of mental healthcare at the primary care level, as well as for healthcare policy and development of strategic plans in Latvia.

Trends in the Prevalence and Incidence of Anxiety and Depression in Adult Population in Iran: Findings from Kerman Coronary Artery Diseases Risk factors Study (KERCADRS)

“…The incidence of anxiety and depression in women was approximately twice that of men. The present ndings seem to be consistent with other research which has found that sex is a contributing factor in anxiety and depression [19,20]. This is also con rmed by our earlier observations [9].…”

Trends in the Prevalence and Incidence of Anxiety and Depression in Adult Population in Iran: Findings from Kerman Coronary Artery Diseases Risk factors Study (KERCADRS)

“…The incidence of anxiety and depression in women was approximately twice that of men. The present ndings seem to be consistent with other research which has found that gender is a contributing factor in anxiety and depression [18,19]. This is also con rmed by our earlier observations [8].…”

“…In line with previous studies, our results demonstrated that unemployment increases the chance of anxiety and depression [19,28,29]. Economically, unemployment status increases the risk of development and progression of psychiatric disorders and strong evidence is available in this regard for depression and anxiety disorders [30][31][32].…”

“…Another risk factor associated with anxiety and depression was discordant marital life (separated/widowed). This nding is consistent with previous studies [19,22,23]. Loss of spouse is associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes including decreased physical well-being, increased mortality risk, and poor cognitive and functional health compared to married counterparts.…”

“…Another important nding of this study was that university education is a protective factor against anxiety and depression. The fact that low level of education is an independent risk factor for mental and mood disorders and anxiety has been shown in different studies [8,19,26]. Higher education improves self-esteem, vulnerability, and living standards [27].…”