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29-Jul-2010
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Arch Hellen Med, 27(4), July-August 2010, 675-683 ORIGINAL PAPER Prevalence of common psychiatric disorders in an island region S. STYLIANIDIS,1,3 P. SKAPINAKIS,2 S. PANTELIDOU,1 P. CHONDROS,1 A. AVGOUSTAKI,1 M. ZIAKOULIS1 |
OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of common mental disorders and their association with sociodemographic variables in the general population of the islands Paros and Antiparos in Greece.
METHOD A cross-sectional survey in a random sample of the general adult population of the two islands. Psychiatric morbidity was measured with the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised (CIS-R), a fully structured psychiatric interview.
RESULTS The sample comprised 506 persons (65% women and 35% men) with a mean age of 44 (range: 18-74) years, of whom 22% were assessed to have clinical significant psychiatric morbidity (30% of the women and 13% of the men). The prevalence of depression was 7.88% in women and 1.14% in men. Hazardous drinking was reported in 13.06% of the sample, 23.86% in men and 3% in women. Women, the unmarried and the unemployed presented the highest rates of psychiatric morbidity. A higher level of education and higher income were negatively associated with the presence of psychiatric symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study are important for planning interventions in the domain of prevention and mental health promotion in the area, appropriate to the specific needs of the population, as it is the first epidemiological study conducted in these islands.
Key words: Psychiatric morbidity, Remote islands, Sociodemographic variables.
