Mental Disorders in Ethnic Community: A Prevalence Study from Thakali Community of Nepal

Mental disorders are common and major source of disability around the world. Though Nepal lacks national data on the prevalence of mental disorders, many studies have been conducted in specific groups of people. The Thakali community is one of the indigenous communities of Nepal. We aim to look at the prevalence of mental disorders in this group.

This is a cross-sectional study with multiphasic sampling conducted in the Thakali community in six distinct geographical regions of Nepal. The first stage was a household survey done by field researchers using screening questionnaires to detect a probable diagnosis of mental disorders. The second stage was detailed clinical assessment and diagnosis (ICD-10) by two independent psychiatrists.

Among the 917 participants, after the first phase, a probable diagnosis (as per the screening questionnaire) was found to be 12.5%. After the psychiatrists' assessment and addition of already diagnosed cases, the prevalence was 6.1%. In both the cases, prevalence of alcohol use disorder was comparatively higher (34.8% and 31.9%, respectively).

Despite many shortcomings, this study has provided an estimate of the prevalence and pattern of mental disorders among an indigenous Nepalese community. We emphasize the need of validation of tools for Nepal and estimation of prevalence at the national level.