Psychological distress among adult urban population of Puducherry

Abstract

Background: A large proportion of population in the community with psychological distress goes unnoticed. This study was done to assess the psychological distress among adult population of an urban area of Puducherry.Methods: The study was conducted among 569 individuals of age 18 years and above. Systematic random sampling method was used to select the households in the study area and from each household one adult was randomly selected. The General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was used to assess the psychological distress among the study participants.Results: Majority of the participants had low psychological distress (60.5%) followed by typical (19.3%), more than typical (10%), evidence of psychological distress (6.2%) & severe distress (4%). One-fifth (20.2%) of the participants had psychological distress which needs attention. The mental health status of the participants was significantly associated with the age, sex, marital status, religion and education (p<0.05).Conclusions: The psychological distress is a major public health problem in the study population. Focused interventions to improve the mental health of population are required to decrease the mental distress in the community.

Investigating factors affecting the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression among citizens of Karaj city: A population-based cross-sectional study

“…Also, the importance of mental health becomes doubly significant when it is related to the promotion of individual and social performance and can play an important role in ensuring the dynamism of any society [ 3 ]. According to estimates, 12% of the total global burden of diseases is caused by mental disorders, and also it will keep its increasing trend [ 4 ]. According to the reports of the World Health Organization (WHO), the world will witness major changes in the field of epidemiology of diseases and the health needs of humans in the next two decades.…”

Psychological Distress among Adults of an Urban Community of Lalitpur District, Nepal

“…Furthermore, prevalence of psychological distress in an urban community population in India was also high 20.2%. [6] The variations in prevalence between countries can be a result in differences of an unequal distribution of risk factors like low level of education, low income, female gender, having chronic medical problems or multiple comorbidities and older age. [7,8,10,11] which need to be explored in more depth.…”

“…[4] Prevalence of psychological distress varies in different countries. For instance; 19.5% in South America [5] , 20.2% in India [6] , 52.5% in Bangladesh [7] , 18.09% in Myanmar [8] , and in Nepal psychological distress has not been studied in urban community population. However, Khatri and his colleagues [9] identified mental distress among 37.5% of rural community population.…”

Examination of Behavioural Patterns of Psychological Distress and Evaluation of Related Factors

“…1 It is estimated that 12% of the total burden of disease globally is due to mental disorders and is expected to increase to 15% by 2020. 2 The prevalence of these disorders in Iran is estimated between 11.9% to 23.8%. 3 , 4 …”

“…11 Hence, severe PD is a predictor of serious mental illnesses like depression and anxiety and other disorders. 2 …”