title: Mental disorders in primary care in Israel: prevalence and risk factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Psychiatric morbidity is common among patients in primary care services and leads to disability and increased use of medical services. Comparison of primary care and community prevalence data is of interest in relation to the health services planning for mental disorders. The aim of the present study was to measure prevalence of mental disorders in six primary care clinics in Israel and to assess risk factors for these disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prevalence of mental disorders was measured in a sample of 2,948 primary care consecutive attendees, using two-stage stratified sampling with the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12) and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A high rate (46.3%) of current mental disorders was found, with rates of current depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder, somatization disorder, and neurasthenia being relatively high in comparison with rates in other countries. Low education was a risk factor for all categories of disorders, unemployment a risk factor for depressive disorders, and parenthood was protective for most categories of disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High rates of mental disorders were found in this Israeli primary care sample as compared to other countries, while in the community the rates were midrange as compared to other countries, pointing to a relatively higher use of primary care services by patients with mental disorders in Israel than in other countries.
authors.affiliation: Herzliya Mental Health Clinic, Jaffa Mental Health Centre, Hadar Street 2, Herzliya, 46290, Israel, Neil.Laufer@MKY.HEALTH.GOV.IL.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Laufer
authors.forename: Nelly
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zilber
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jecsmien
authors.forename: Binyamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maoz
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grupper
authors.forename: Haggai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hermesh
authors.forename: Royi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gilad
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weizman
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Munitz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires