Psychiatric disorders in an Arctic community.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the rates of depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse, using modern nosology, in a random sample of residents aged 14 to 85 years living in an Arctic community.


METHODS
A cross-sectional 2-step survey of randomly selected households was undertaken, using a self-report questionnaire to screen for anxiety, depression, and alcohol abuse. The survey included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Ewing and Roose's 4-question alcohol screening instrument (the CAGE questionnaire). Cut-off scores for the HADS and CAGE were found by comparing HADS and CAGE scores with scores on the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III-R (SCID) in a stratified subsample.


RESULTS
Estimated rates of depression and anxiety were 26.5% and 19.0% respectively within the past week, and estimated rates of lifetime alcohol abuse were 30.5%.


CONCLUSIONS
The estimated prevalence of psychiatric disorders in this Arctic community is higher than that indicated in previous findings on Native mental health.
Haggarty
J
J
Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London. jhaggart@julian.uwo.ca
Cernovsky
Z
Z
Kermeen
P
P
Merskey
H
H
D000328:Adult; D001110:Arctic Regions / Q000453:epidemiology; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D006801:Humans; D004930:Inuit / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires