Prevalence of enduring and disabling mental illness in the inner city.
Previous research identifying the long-term mentally ill in primary care has been outside areas of deprivation. We used a case finding approach by a primary care group to identify the prevalence and characteristics of people with enduring and disabling mental ill health in a disadvantaged inner-city community. We found a high point prevalence (12.9 per 1000 patients) of enduring psychotic and non-psychotic illness (36.1% and 63.9% respectively). This contributed to considerable workload and disability, and included a significant proportion of older people (24.6% aged over 65 years). The approach may be useful for local needs assessment. It highlights a need to consider disability as well as diagnosis for service development.
Department of Primary Care and General Practice, University of Birmingham. j.p.kai@bham.ac.uk
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Kai
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Crosland
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Drinkwater
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011204:Poverty Areas; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data