title: [The dynamics of the prevalence of mental disorders in the USSR].
abstract: The two great events took place in the psychiatric life of this country in 1988-1989, namely the implementation of the new law of the conditions and routine of rendering psychiatric assistance to the community and experimentation with changing the principles and routine of the follow-up and registration of persons with mental disorders, carried out in 5 territories of the USSR. Analysis of the 3-year statistical data for the whole country made it possible to ascertain that the years 1988-1989 may be classified as crucial in terms of the changes in conventional approaches to the formation of the patients' groups followed up by the dispensary and as pioneering from the standpoint of distinguishing the patients' groups to be given medical advice. On the whole in 1989, the total number of mental patients treated by the outpatient psychoneurological institutions of this country underwent negligible changes as compared to 1987. At the same time the portion of the patients registered at the dispensaries reduced from 87.7% in 1987 to 82.2% in 1989. On the contrary, the portion of the patients given medical advice increased from 12.3 to 17.8%. Therefore, to trace the dynamics of mental pathology among the population, revealed by the psychiatric services on the basis of the statistical reports, it is necessary to make use of the total data on the groups of patients placed under dispensary observation and given medical advice. To widen the possibilities of rendering assistance to the latter group patients, it is badly needed that the development of the out-of-dispensary forms of rendering psychiatric assistance be intensified.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Tvorogova
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014586:USSR / Q000453:epidemiology
vernacular_title: Dinamika rasprostranennosti psikhicheskikh rasstroĭstv v SSSR.