Ahmad Ali Noorbala
1*, Seyed Abbas Bagheri Yazdi
2, Soghrat Faghihzadeh
3, Koorosh Kamali
4, Elham Faghihzadeh
5, Ahmad Hajebi
6, Shahin Akhondzadeh
7, Ali Akbari
8, Zahra Yousefnejad
91 Psychosomatic Medicine Research Center, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,
2 Department of Mental Health, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, Tehran, Iran,
3 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran,
4 Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran,
5 Department of Biostatistics, Paramedical School, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,
6 Research Center for Addiction and Risky Behaviors (ReCARB), Psychiatric Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,
7 Psychiatric Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,
8 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran,
9 Responsible Expertise of Mental Health in North Khorasan Provincial Health Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnourd, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction: This research aims to determine the mental
health status of population aged 15 and over in the province of North Khorasan in 2015.
Methods: The statistical population of this
cross-sectional field survey consisted of residents of urban and rural areas of
North Khorasan in Iran. Through systematic random cluster sampling, 1200
individuals were selected from the residents of urban and rural areas of of
Bojnourd, Sfaraien and Shirvan. The 28-item version of the General Health
Questionnaire was applied as the screening tool. The data were analyzed using
SPSS, version 18.0 for windows.
Results: This study showed that using the
traditional scoring method, 22.2% of the subjects (28% of females and 16.4% of
males) were suspected of mental disorders. The prevalence of suspected
psychiatric disorders in urban areas (23.9%) was higher than the prevalence of
these disorders in rural areas (18.3%). The prevalence of suspected anxiety and
the somatization of symptoms was higher than the prevalence of social dysfunction
and depression, and the prevalence of these components was higher in women than
men. The findings of this study also showed that the prevalence of suspected
mental disorders increased significantly with age. The prevalence of suspected
cases of these disorders was higher among women, the age group of 65 and older,
people living in urban areas, divorced and widowed, illiterate, and retired
people compared to the other groups.
Conclusion: The results of this study show that more than one fifth of the sample were suspected
of mental disorders. Therefore, health authorities and administrators need to
take the principle measures to ensure and maintain the mental health of
individuals as well as the evaluation and treatment of patients with mental
disorders.