RESUMO
Psychiatric morbidity constitutes one of the biggest burdens of disease on the economy of developing countries. There are only few studies on the prevalence and nature of psychiatric morbidity in Pakistan. The present study aims to describe the patterns of psychiatric morbidity and its correlates in a tertiary care teaching hospital. The details of all in-patient admissions from the case register developed for a health information system. The study was conducted in the Institute of Psychiatry and constituted data of four years [1996-1999]. A total of 2620 patients were admitted during these years. More male patients were admitted compared to female patients [59 percent vs. 41 percent]. The mean age of admission was 30.7 years for female and 31.7 years for males. Most patients were admitted with diagnosis of depressive illness [37 percent]; followed by bipolar affective disorder [11.40 percent], drug dependence [10.60 percent] and schizophrenia [8.40]. The patients with neurotic disorders were least likely to be admitted. It is concluded that the pattern of in-patient psychiatric morbidity is entirely different from the distribution of illness reported in the community. A psychiatric case register can be a useful source of data for research