[Annual treated psychopathological morbidity. Demographic and diagnostic features]

We report in this study the demographic and diagnostic variables of all successive outpatients, age 16 years and older, treated during a one year time period, at a Psychiatric Unit of the Spanish Seguridad Social. Diagnosis were made following DSM-III Criteria. Epidemiologic parameters calculated were population based treated morbidity rates. The total number of patients seen was 1,119, annual rate of 13.16 per 1,000 population. Females outnumbered males significantly (rates of 18.25 and 8.41, respectively). Annual rates are compared with six months previously obtained rates. In general, a consistent sex/age epidemiologic profile was found for most DSM-III diagnostic categories. Implications for planning Mental Health Care Systems, as well as for evaluating Epidemiologic Field Surveys in Psychiatry, all of potential value, can be derived from the data.