Community prevalence of psychiatric disorders: Findings from a nationwide survey in Bangladesh

Abstract

Objective: To determine the community prevalence of psychiatric disorders in adult population and describe the prevalence by age, men-women, urban-rural strata.

Methods: A nationwide household survey was conducted in 2019 where adults aged 18 years and above were selected by a multicentric, stratified, systematic random approach. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) was used for screening purpose and screened positive individuals were interviewed by research psychiatrists and diagnosed according the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria.

Results: Overall adult response rate for this survey was 90.4%. In total, of the 7270 adults, 1570 (21.6%) came positive on the SRQ. Overall prevalence of mental disorders found was 18.7% ((95% CI: 17.4%-20.0%). Women reported higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders than men (21.5% vs 15.7%). No significant difference was observed between urban and rural residents (18.9% vs 18.7%). Most common psychiatric disorders found were depressive disorders (6.7%), anxiety disorders (4.7%), somatic symptom and related disorders (2.3%), sleep-wake disorders (1%) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (1%).

Conclusions: The study revealed that a substatial proportion of adults received diagnoses for psychiatric disorders. Once again, our findings emphasize the need for development of comprehensive mental healthcare services.

Keywords: Bangladesh; Community prevalence; Psychiatric disorders.