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Psychiatric disorders in Mexico: lifetime prevalence in a nationally representative sample
Maria Elena Medina-Mora1, Guilherme Borges, Corina Benjet
1Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente, 101, México.
Background:
No national data on lifetime prevalence and risk factors for DSM-IV psychiatric disorders are available in Mexico.
Aims:
To present data on lifetime prevalence and projected lifetime risk, age at onset and demographic correlates of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders assessed in the Mexican National Comorbidity Survey.
Method:
The survey was based on a multistage area probability sample of non-institutionalised people aged 18-65 years in urban Mexico. The World Mental Health Survey version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview was administered by lay interviewers.
Results:
Of those surveyed, 26.1% had experienced at least one psychiatric disorder in their life and 36.4% of Mexicans will eventually experience one of these disorders. Half of the population who present with a psychiatric disorder do so by the age of 21 and younger cohorts are at greater risk for most disorders.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest an urgent need to re-evaluate the resources allocated for the detection and treatment of psychiatric illnesses in Mexico.
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