title: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Taiwan defined by the Chinese Diagnostic Interview Schedule.
abstract: The Taiwan Psychiatric Epidemiological Project, conducted from 1982 to 1986, used the multistage random sampling method with 5005, 3004 and 2995 subjects selected respectively from metropolitan Taipei (MT), 2 small towns (ST) and 6 rural villages (RV). The case identification tool was the Chinese modified Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS-CM). This study presents the lifetime and one-year prevalence of 27 and of 17 specific psychiatric disorders respectively. The lifetime prevalence of any disorder defined by the DIS-CM -- excluding tobacco dependence -- was 16.3%, 28.0% and 21.5% in the MT, ST and RV samples respectively. The differences in lifetime prevalence between the sexes and between the 3 sampling areas were significant for 15 and 8 disorders respectively. The ST sample seemed to have the most disorders, with the highest prevalence among 3 sampling areas. The mean ratio of one-year to lifetime prevalence was 0.67. The differences in prevalence rates between the 3 sampling areas and between the international studies are discussed from methodological, social and cultural points of view.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Hwu
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: L Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012423:Rural Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health