[Study of the general mental health status in an area of Tehran: Tehran lipid and glucose study [TLGS]]

ABSTRACT

There are significant correlations between the mental health status of individuals and non-communicable mental or physical diseases. Epidemiological data regarding mental health indices plays an important part in the planning and designing of mental health programs. This study was conducted to evaluate the general mental health status of inhabitants in an area of Tehran as part of the TLGS. Materials and Method: In this cross-sectional study, 927 residents [20 years and older] of a specific area were randomly selected. Subjects completed the demographic data forms alongwith the General Health Questionnaires [GHQ], validated for the Iranian population. A cut off of 6 and above was used as threshold to identify the group suspected of having psychiatric disorders. To compare the scores of total GHQ and subscales between different demographic variables, the Chi square, Mann whitney and Kruskal wallis test were used. Logistic regression was used to identify variables related to the group that scored above threshold. The total sample studied consisted of 927 adults, of whom 401 [43.3%] were males and 526 [56.7%] females. Among them 489 [52.8%] were suspected of having psychiatric disorders. Mean score of total GHQ was 7.0 +/- 5.4 and regarding the subscales of the questionnaire including physical symptoms, anxiety and sleep disorders, social dysfunction and depression, mean scores were 1.2 +/- 1.7, 1.7 +/- 2.0, 3.4 +/- 2.0, 0.75 +/- 1.4 respectively and the median of mentioned subscales were 0, 1, 3 and 0 respectively. Frequency of women suspected of mental disorders was significantly higher than that of men [59.7% vs. 43.6%, p<0.001]. Taking into consideration the sample group and the method of gathering data, the frequency of those suspected of having psychiatric disorders in our study was higher as compared to other studies. Since mental health plays an important role in health promotion and community development, as well as the financial and psychological burden of illnesses, inplementation of policies in regard to implementation of related programs for prevention especially in women, seems vital