Ahmad Ali Noorbala
1*, Seyed Abbas Bagheri Yazdi
2, Soghrat Faghihzadeh
3, Koorosh Kamali
4, Elham Faghihzadeh
5, Ahmad Hajebi
6, Shahin Akhondzadeh
7, Alireza Armani Kian
8, Shohreh Nasr
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 Fellowship of Psychosomatic in Psychiatry, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran,
9 Responsible Expert of Mental Health in Zanjan Provincial Health Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran,
Abstract
Introduction: This research aims to determine the mental health status of population aged
15 and over in the province of Zanjan in 2015.
Method: This cross-sectional field study was
conducted on the residents of both urban and rural areas of the Zanjan
province. Through systematic random cluster sampling, 1200 individuals were
selected from the residents of urban and rural areas of of Zanjan, Abhar and
Qeydar. 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, 28.5% of the subjects (32.9% of females and 24.2%
of males) were suspected of having mental disorders. The prevalence of
suspected psychiatric disorders in urban areas (30%) was higher than the
prevalence of these disorders in rural areas (24.8%). 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 individuals compared to the other groups.
Conclusion: The results of this study show that more than
one quarter of the sample (28.5%) were suspected of mental disorders, and the
prevalence of these disorders has increased from 21.3% in 1999 to 28.5% in 2015.
Therefore, it is up to the authorities and health managers of the province to
take the basic steps to supply, maintain, and preserve the mental health of
those in need and promote the mental health of the community.