ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate how mental health professionals in Korea evaluate the burden of disease caused by psychiatric disorders and to propose future directions of the public mental health policies. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to 240 mental health professionals, who were composed of psychiatrists from mental hospitals and staffs who are nurses, clinical psychologists and social workers working in the community mental health centers in June, 2004. Two hundred twenty four out of two hundred forty subjects (93.3%), which were composed of 104 psychiatrists and 120 staffs, completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire included 6-item questions about the burden of disease in Korea. RESULTS: Mental health professionals reported that the five diseases with the biggest burden were malignant neoplasms, traffic accidents, schizophrenia, alcohol use disorders and cerebrovascular diseases, consecutively. The burden of alcohol use disorders, cerebrovascular diseases, traffic accidents, unipolar depressive disorder and malignant neoplasms are expected to increase over the next several years. The proportions of psychiatric disorders among all the diseases in terms of burden of disease and medical costs were estimated as 18.4% (+/-12.8) and 12.0% (+/-11.7) respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed that many of Korean mental health professionals have under-estimated burden of psychiatric disorders, especially, unipolar depressive disorder. It would be necessary to emphasize the importance of unipolar depressive disorder in applying educational and public programs for the mental health professionals, as well as for the general population.