Twelve-month prevalence, severity, and treatment of common mental disorders in communities in Japan: preliminary finding from the World Mental Health Japan Survey 2002-2003.
To estimate the prevalence, severity, and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn; DSM-IV) mental disorders in community populations in Japan, face-to-face household surveys were conducted in four community populations in Japan. A total of 1663 community adults responded (overall response rate, 56%). The DSM-IV disorders, severity, and treatment were assessed with the World Mental Health version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI), a fully structured lay-administered psychiatric diagnostic interview. The prevalence of any WMH-CIDI/DSM-IV disorder in the prior year was 8.8%, of which 17% of cases were severe and 47% were moderate. Among specific disorders, major depression (2.9%), specific phobia (2.7%), and alcohol abuse/dependence (2.0%) were the most prevalent. Although disorder severity was correlated with probability of treatment, only 19% of the serious or moderate cases received medical treatment in the 12 months before the interview. Older and not currently married individuals had a greater risk of having more severe DSM-IV disorders if they had experienced any within the previous 12 months. Those who had completed high school or some college were more likely to seek medical treatment than those who had completed college. The study confirmed that the prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders was equal to that observed in Asian countries but lower than that in Western countries. The percentage of those receiving medical treatment was low even for those who suffered severe or moderate disorders. Possible strategies are discussed.
Kawakami
Norito
N
Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama, Japan. norito@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
Takeshima
Tadashi
T
Ono
Yutaka
Y
Uda
Hidenori
H
Hata
Yukihiro
Y
Nakane
Yoshibumi
Y
Nakane
Hideyuki
H
Iwata
Noboru
N
Furukawa
Toshiaki A
TA
Kikkawa
Takehiko
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population