title: Mental-Physical Comorbidity in Korean Adults: Results from a Nationwide General Population Survey in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of mental-physical comorbidity and health-threatening risk factors in subjects with mental disorders, and the risks of mental disorders in those with physical diseases for the last 12 months in the general Korean population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area study replication (KECA-R) was conducted for 6,510 adults between August 2006 and April 2007. The Korean version of Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 (K-CIDI) was used in the survey. Prevalence of mental and physical disorders, and risk factors for physical health were calculated, and their associations were evaluated with adjustment for age and sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects with any mental disorder showed significantly higher prevalence of chronic physical conditions (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=1.5 to 2.8, p<0.001) and medical risk factors including smoking, heavy drinking, overweight, and hypertension (AOR=1.5 to 4.0, p<0.001). Of those with chronic physical conditions, 21.6% had one or more comorbid mental disorder compared with 10.5% of the subjects without chronic physical disorders (AOR=2.6, p<0.001). Contrary to expectations, depressive disorders did not show significant association with hypertension and prevalence of obesity was not influenced by presence of mental disorders. Further studies should assess these findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first identification of significant mental-physical comorbidity in the general Korean population. Clinicians and health care officials should keep in mind of its potential adverse effects on treatment outcome and aggravated disease-related socioeconomic burden.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Man
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Nam
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seong-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Maeng Je
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cho
keywords: Comorbidity; Epidemiology; Mental disorder; Psychosomatic medicine