The WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys

2009 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Aguilar-Gaxiola ◽  
J. Alonso ◽  
S. Chatterji ◽  
S. Lee ◽  
T. B. Üstün ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
World Mental Health ◽  
Prevalence Estimates

SummaryThe paper presents an overview of the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative and summarizes recent WMH results regarding the prevalence and societal costs of mental disorders. The WMH surveys are representative community surveys that were carried out in 28 countries throughout the world aimed at providing information to mental health policy makers about the prevalence, burden, and unmet need for treatment of common mental disorders. Results show that mental disorders are commonly occurring in all participating countries. The inter-quartile range (IQR: 25th-75th percentiles) of lifetime DSM-IV disorder prevalence estimates (combining anxiety, mood, disruptive behavior, and substance disorders) is 18.1-36.1%. The IQR of 12-month prevalence estimates is 9.8-19.1%. Analysis of age-of-onset reports shows that many mental disorders begin in childhood-adolescence and have significant adverse effects on subsequent role transitions. Adult mental disorders are found in the WMH data to be associated with high levels of role impairment. Despite this burden, the majority of mental disorders go untreated. Although these results suggest that expansion of treatment could be cost-effective from both the employer perspective and the societal perspective, treatment effectiveness trials are needed to confirm this suspicion. The WMH results regarding impairments are being used to target several such interventions.

scholarly journals The global burden of mental disorders: An update from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Kessler ◽  
Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola ◽  
Jordi Alonso ◽  
Somnath Chatterji ◽  
Sing Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Global Burden ◽  
World Mental Health ◽  
Prevalence Estimates ◽  
The World

AbstractAims - The paper reviews recent findings from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys on the global burden of mental disorders. Methods - The WMH surveys are representative community surveys in 28 countries throughout the world aimed at providing information to mental health policy makers about the prevalence, distribution, burden, and unmet need for treatment of common mental disorders. Results - The first 17 WMH surveys show that mental disorders are commonly occurring in all participating countries. The inter-quartile range (IQR: 25th-75th percentiles) of lifetime DSM-IV disorder prevalence estimates (combining anxiety, mood, externalizing, and substance use disorders) is 18.1–36.1%. The IQR of 12-month prevalence estimates is 9.8–19.1%. Prevalence estimates of 12-month Serious Mental Illness (SMI) are 4–6.8% in half the countries, 2.3–3.6% in one-fourth, and 0.8–1.9% in one-fourth. Many mental disorders begin in childhood-adolescence and have significant adverse effects on subsequent role transitions in the WMH data. Adult mental disorders are found to be associated with such high role impairment in the WMH data that available clinical interventions could have positive cost-effectiveness ratios. Conclusions - Mental disorders are commonly occurring and often seriously impairing in many countries throughout the world. Expansion of treatment could be cost-effective from both employer and societal perspectives

JS03-03 - Prevalence and Impact of Common Mental Disorders: International Similarities & Differences. Results of the Who World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys Initiative

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2005-2005
Author(s):  
J. Alonso ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Disruptive Behaviour ◽  
International Variation ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
World Mental Health ◽  
Substance Disorders ◽  
Prevalence Estimates ◽  
Role Impairment

Introduction A number of studies have shown that there is international variation in the prevalence of common mental disorders. Several factors have been suggested to explain such differences. Methodological challenges to comparability include: differences in settings, samples, assessment methods, and reporting practices. Also, cultural differences have been pointed out as possible cause of differential recognition and reporting of mental health issues. There is still uncertainty about the degree of international variation in the prevalence of mental disorders, and the lack of comparability of results is still an issue.Objectives We assessed the prevalence and impact of mental disorders in the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative, using common survey, assessment and reporting methods.Methods The WMH surveys were completed in 24 countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle-East and the Pacific. Representative samples of the adult, non-institutionalizes population were interviewed face-to-face, with the aim of estimating the prevalence, burden and unmet need for treatment of common mental disorders. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI, 3.0) was used in all surveys to assess mental health status. Common mental disorders assessed included: anxiety, mood, disruptive behaviour, and substance disorders. Several standard measures of disability, both generic and disorder-specific, and role impairment were administered.Results Results show that the mental disorders are commonly occurring in all participating countries. The inter-quartile range (IQR: 25th–75th percentiles) of lifetime DSM-IV disorder prevalence estimates (combining anxiety, mood, disruptive behaviour, and substance disorders) is 18.1–31.1%. The IQR of 12 month prevalence estimates is 9.8–19.1%. Prevalence estimates of 12-month Serious Mental Illness (SMI) are 4–6.8% in half of the countries, 2.3–3.6% in one-fourth and 0.8–1.9% in one-fourth. Possible causes of international variation will be addressed. Analysis of age-of-onset reports shows that many mental disorders begin in childhood-adolescence and have significant adverse effects on subsequent role transitions. Mental disorders are found in the WMH data to be associated with high levels of role impairment.Conclusions Despite this burden, the majority of mental disorders go untreated. Although these results suggest that expansion of treatment could be cost-effective form both the employer perspective and the societal perspective, treatment effectiveness trials are needed to confirm this suspicion. The WMH results regarding impairments are being used to target several of these interventions.Additional information about the WMH Surveys Initiative and the funing of the project can be found at: http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/

scholarly journals Lifetime and 12-month prevalence, severity and unmet need for treatment of common mental disorders in Japan: results from the final dataset of World Mental Health Japan Survey

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Ishikawa ◽  
N. Kawakami ◽  
R. C. Kessler ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Need For Treatment ◽  
World Mental Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Dsm Iv

Background.The aim of this study is to estimate the lifetime and 12-month prevalence, severity and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV) mental disorders in Japan based on the final data set of the World Mental Health Japan Survey conducted in 2002–2006.Methods.Face-to-face household interviews of 4130 respondents who were randomly selected from Japanese-speaking residents aged 20 years or older were conducted from 2002 to 2006 in 11 community populations in Japan (overall response rate, 56%). The World Mental Health version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI), a fully structured, lay administered psychiatric diagnostic interview, was used for diagnostic assessment.Results.Lifetime/12-month prevalence of any DSM-IV common mental disorders in Japan was estimated to be 20.3/7.6%. Rank-order of four classes of mental disorders was anxiety disorders (8.1/4.9%), substance disorders (7.4/1.0%), mood disorders (6.5/2.3%) and impulse control disorders (2.0/0.7%). The most common individual disorders were alcohol abuse/dependence (7.3/0.9%), major depressive disorder (6.1/2.2%), specific phobia (3.4/2.3%) and generalized anxiety disorder (2.6/1.3%). While the lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder was greater for males and the middle-aged, the persistence (proportion of 12-month cases among lifetime cases) of any mental disorder was greater for females and younger respondents. Among those with any 12-month disorder, 15.3% were classified as severe, 44.1% moderate and 40.6% mild. Although a strong association between severity and service use was found, only 21.9% of respondents with any 12-month disorder sought treatment within the last 12 months; only 37.0% of severe cases received medical care. The mental health specialty sector was the most common resource used in Japan. Although the prevalence of mental disorders were quite low, mental disorders were the second most prevalent cause of severe role impairment among chronic physical and mental disorders.Conclusions.These results suggest lower prevalence of mental disorders in Japan than that in Western countries, although the general pattern of disorders, risk factors and unmet need for treatment were similar to those in other countries. Greater lifetime prevalence for males and greater persistence for females seems a unique feature of Japan, suggesting a cultural difference in gender-related etiology and course of disorders. The treatment rate in Japan was lower than that in most other high-income countries in WMH surveys.

Disability and common mental disorders: Results from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative Portugal

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 56-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Antunes ◽  
Diana Frasquilho ◽  
Sofia Azeredo-Lopes ◽  
Daniel Neto ◽  
Manuela Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health Survey ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Diagnostic Category ◽  
World Mental Health ◽  
World Mental Health Survey ◽  
The World ◽  
Mental Health Survey

AbstractBackgroundCommon mental disorders are highly prevalent and disabling, leading to substantial individual and societal costs. This study aims to characterize the association between disability and common mental disorders in Portugal, using epidemiological data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative.MethodsTwelve-month common mental disorders were assessed with the CIDI 3.0. Disability was evaluated with the modified WMHS WHODAS-II. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between disability and each disorder or diagnostic category (mood or anxiety disorders).ResultsAmong people with a common mental disorder, 14.6% reported disability. The specific diagnoses significantly associated with disability were post-traumatic stress disorder (OR: 6.69; 95% CI: 3.20, 14.01), major depressive disorder (OR: 3.49; 95% CI: 2.13, 5.72), bipolar disorder (OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 1.04, 11.12) and generalized anxiety disorder (OR: 3.14; 95% CI: 1.43, 6.90). Both categories of anxiety and mood disorders were significantly associated with disability (OR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.86 and OR: 3.94; 95% CI: 2.45, 6.34 respectively).ConclusionsThe results of this study add to the current knowledge in this area by assessing the disability associated with common mental disorders using a multi-dimensional instrument, which may contribute to mental health policy efforts in the development of interventions to reduce the burden of disability associated with common mental disorders.

scholarly journals Comorbidity of common mental disorders with cancer and their treatment gap: findings from the World Mental Health Surveys

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ora Nakash ◽  
Itzhak Levav ◽  
Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola ◽  
Jordi Alonso ◽  
Laura Helena Andrade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Treatment Gap ◽  
World Mental Health ◽  
The World
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