Factors associated with psychiatric morbidity in women--a general practice survey

1517 women between 20 and 59 years of age were screened for current psychiatric disturbance using the General Health Questionnaire, and 382 of the subjects were also interviewed. The women gave information on a variety of family, demographic and reproductive or gynaecological items. Items concerning personal relationships with mother, husband and father were significantly associated with high scores on the GHQ as were demographic items such as marital status, numbers of children and social class and gynaecological items such as sterilization and painful, heavy or irregular periods. The many cross associations between items included in the study need to be considered when interpreting the findings. In particular the highly significant association of relationship and demographic factors with psychiatric morbidity in women must be taken into account when investigating the impact of reproductive physiology and gynaecological procedures on mental health.