Psychiatric Morbidity ofthe Population in the Czech Republic

Overview

This article presents results of a survey which has taken place between 1998-1999 in collaborationwith the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Consortium in PsychiatricEpidemiology (ICPE). Data were collected using the Composite International Diagnostic Inter-view (CIDI) designed to cover the most common categories of non-organic mental disorders. Outof the 2 329 persons contacted, 1 534 (66 per cent) aged 18 to 79 participated in the survey.Results showed association between mental health and demographic characteristics (age, sex,education, marital status and locality). At least one mental disorders was detected in almost 27per cent of persons (30 per cent of women); about 10 per cent of respondents, mostly women,reported having experienced more than one disorder at a time. The most frequently reportedmental disorders were: neurotic disorders (18 per cent); mental disorders related to alcohol andtobacco abuse (13 per cent) and affective disorders (13 per cent). Neuroses were found to have thelongest duration. The average age at the onset of a mental disorder was close to 25 years. Overall,mental disorders were most often diagnosed among women living in large cities. Data confirmedthat the ability of other health specialists to diagnose mental disorders is limited.

Key words:
mental disorders, representative survey, CIDI, psychiatric epidemiology.