Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Twelve-month prevalence rates of mental disorders and service use in the Argentinean Study of Mental Health Epidemiology

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Community surveys of mental disorders and service use are important for public health policy and planning. There is a dearth of information for Latin America. This is the first representative community survey in the Argentinean population. The purpose is to estimate the 12-month prevalence and severity of mental disorders, socio-demographic correlates and service use in a general population survey of adults from urban areas of Argentina.

Methods

The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was administered to 3927 individuals aged 18 years and older participating in a multistage clustered area probability household survey. The response rate was 77%.

Results

The 12-month prevalence of any disorder was 14.8%, and a quarter of those disorders were classified as severe. Younger participants and those with lower education had greater odds of any disorder and most classes of disorder. 11.6% of the total population received treatment in the prior 12 months and only 30.2% of those with a severe disorder. Women and those never married were more likely to receive or seek treatment, whereas those with low and low-average education were less likely.

Conclusion

Most individuals with a mental disorder in the past year, even those with a severe disorder, have not received treatment. Because low education is a barrier to treatment, initiatives aimed at mental health education might help timely detection and treatment of these disorders in Argentina.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Demyttenaere K, Bruffaerts R, Posada-Villa J et al (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet needs for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey. JAMA 291(21):2581–2590

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Andrade LH, Wang YP, Andreoni S et al (2012) Mental disorders in megacities: findings from the São Paulo megacity mental health survey, Brazil. PLoS One 7(2):e31879

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Posada-Villa J, Rodriguez M, Duque P et al (2008) Mental disorders in Colombia: results from the World Mental Health Survey. In: Kessler RC, Ustun TB (eds) The WHO World Mental Health Surveys: global perspectives on the epidemiology of mental disorders. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 131–143

    Google Scholar 

  4. Medina-Mora ME, Borges G, Lara C, Benjet C, Blanco J, Fleiz C, Villatoro J, Rojas E, Zambrano J (2005) Prevalence, service use, and demographic correlates of 12-month DSM-IV psychiatric disorders in Mexico: results from the Mexican National Comorbidity Survey. Psychol Med 35(12):1773–1784

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Piazza M, Fiestas F (2014) Prevalencia anual de trastornos y uso de servicios de salud mental en el Perú: resultados del estudio mundial de salud mental, 2005. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Pública 31(1):30–38

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 Collaborators (2015) Global, regional and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic conditions and injuries for 188 countries, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2013. The Lancet 386(9995):743–800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Alonso J, Petukhova M, Vilagut G et al (2011) Days out of role due to common physical and mental conditions: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys. Mol Psychiatry (16):1234–1246

  8. Schofield D, Shrestha RN, Percival R, Passey ME, Callander EJ, Kelly SJ (2011) The personal and national costs of mental health conditions: impacts on income, taxes, government support payments. BMC Psychiatry 11:72

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. United National Development Programme (UNDP) (2013) Human development report 2013: the rise of the south: human progress in a diverse world. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/ARG.pdf. Accessed Mar 2017

  10. World Health Organization (2014) Mental health atlas 2014. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  11. Modesto MA, Klinar D (2016) Los psicólogos/as en Argentina. Relevamiento Cuantitativo 2015 [Psychologists in Argentina. Quantitative review]. Poster presented in the IV Congreso Internacional de Investigación y Práctica Profesional en Psicología; XIX Jornada de Investigación; 8° Encuentro de Investigadores de Psicología del MERCOSUR. Buenos Aires

  12. Ase I, Burijovich J (2009) La estrategia de Atención Primaria de la Salud:¿progresividad o regresividad en el derecho a la salud? [The primary health care strategy: progressiveness or retrogressivness in the health rights?] Salud colectiva 5(1):27–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Pennell BE, Mneimneh ZN, Bowers A et al (2008) Implementation of the World Mental Health Surveys. In: Kessler RC, Üstün TB (eds) The WHO World Mental Health Surveys: global perspectives on the epidemiology of mental disorders. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 33–57

    Google Scholar 

  14. Heeringa SG, Wells EJ, Hubbard F et al (2008) Sample designs and sampling procedures. In: Kessler RC, Üstün TB (eds) The WHO World Mental Health Surveys: global perspectives on the epidemiology of mental disorders. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 14–32

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kessler RC, Üstün TB (2004) The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey initiative. Version of the World Health Organization (WHO) composite international diagnostic interview (CIDI). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13(2):93–121

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Haro JM, Arbabzadeh-Bouchez S, Brugha TS et al (2006) Concordance of the composite international diagnostic interview version 3.0 (CIDI 3.0) with standardized clinical assessments in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 15:167–180

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4 edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sheehan DV, Harnett-Sheehan K, Raj BA (1996) The measurement of disability. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 11(S3):89–95

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Wolter KM (1985) Introduction to Variance Estimation. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  20. Research Triangle Institute (2002) SUDAAN: Professional Software for Survey Data Analysis [computer program]. Version 8.0.1. Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kish L, Frankel MR. Inferences from complex samples. J R Stat Soc Ser A:361–337

  22. SAS Institute Inc (2001) SAS/STAT Software: changes and enhancements, release 8.2. SAS Institute Inc, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  23. Steel Z, Marnane C, Iranpour C et al (2014) The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980–2013. Int J Epidemiol 43(2):476–493

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Goi PR, Vianna-Sulzbah M, Silveira L et al (2015) Treatment delay is associated with more episodes and more severe illness staging progression in patients with bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Res 227(2–3):372–373

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Post RM, Weiss SR (1998) Sensitization and kindling phenomena in mood, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders: the role of serotonergic mechanisms in illness progression. Biol Psychiatry 44(3):193–206

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Bonnin JE (2014) Treating without diagnosis: psychoanalysis in medical settings in Argentina. Commun Med 11(1):15–26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Bruffaerts R, Posada-Villa J, Al-Hamzawi AO et al (2015) Proportion of patients without mental disorders being treated in mental health services worldwide. Br J Psychiatry 206(2):101–109

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Wang PS, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Alonso J et al (2007) Worldwide use of mental health services for anxiety, mood, and substance disorders: Results from 17 countries in the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. The Lancet 370(9590):841–850

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. World Health Organization (2001) The world mental health report 2001. Mental health: new understanding, new hope. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  30. Borges G, Medina-Mora ME, Benjet C, Lee S, Lane M, Breslau J (2011) Influence of mental disorders on school dropout in Mexico. Rev Panam Salud Publica 30(5):477–483

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Esch P, Bocquet V, Pull C, Couffignal S, Lehnert T, Graas M, Fond-Harmant L, Ansseau M (2014) The downward spiral of mental disorders and educational attainment: a systematic review on early school leaving. BMC Psychiatry 14:237

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Lee S, Tsang A, Breslau J et al (2009) Mental disorders and termination of education in high-income and low- and middle-income countries: epidemiological study. Br J Psychiatry 194(5):411–417

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Baxter AJ, Scott KM, Vos T, Whiteford HA (2013) Global prevalence of anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-regression. Psychol Med 43(5):897–910

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Boyd A, van de Velde S, Vilagut G, de Graf R, O´Neill S, Florescu S, Alonso J, Kovess-Masfety V, EU-WMH Investigators (2015) Gender differences in mental disorders and suicidality in Europe: results from a large cross-sectional population-based study. J AffectDisord 173:245–254

    Google Scholar 

  35. Andersen RM (2008) National Health surveys and the behavioral model of health services use. Med Care 46(7):647–653

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Harris MG, Baxter AJ, Reavley N et al (2016) Gender-related patterns and determinants of recent help-seeking for past-year affective, anxiety and substance use disorders: findings from a national epidemiological survey. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 25(6):548–561

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Kovess-Masfety V, Boyd A, van de Velde S et al (2014) Are there gender differences in service use for mental disorders across countries in the European Union? Results from the EU. World Mental Health survey. J Epidemiol Community Health 68(7):649–656

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Fleury MJ, Grenier G, Bamvita JM, Perreault M, Kestens Y, Caron J (2012) Comprehensive determinants of health service utilisation for mental health reasons in a Canadian catchment area. Int J Equity Health 11:20

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Magaard JL, Seerlalan T, Schulz H, Brutt AL (2017) Factors associated with help-seeking behavior among individuals with major depression: a systematic review. Plos One 12(5):e0176730

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Argentinean Study of Mental Health Epidemiology was funded by the Ministerio de Salud de la Nación (Argentinean Ministry of Health) (Grant number 2002–17270/13–5). This survey was carried out in conjunction with the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. We thank the WMH staff for assistance with instrumentation and fieldwork.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan Carlos Stagnaro

  2. Anxiety Clinic and Research Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alfredo H. Cía

  3. Center for Reducing Health Disparities, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Sergio Aguilar Gaxiola

  4. Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Néstor Vázquez & Sebastián Sustas

  5. Department of Epidemiology and Psychosocial Research, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico

    Corina Benjet

  6. Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

    Ronald C. Kessler

Authors
  1. Juan Carlos Stagnaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alfredo H. Cía
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sergio Aguilar Gaxiola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Néstor Vázquez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sebastián Sustas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Corina Benjet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ronald C. Kessler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan Carlos Stagnaro.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

In the past 3 years, Dr. Kessler received support for his epidemiological studies from Sanofi Aventis; was a consultant for Johnson & Johnson Wellness and Prevention, Sage Pharmaceuticals, Shire, Takeda; and served on an advisory board for the Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Lake Nona Life Project. Kessler is a co-owner of DataStat, Inc., a market research firm that carries out healthcare research. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that none of the other authors have conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stagnaro, J.C., Cía, A.H., Aguilar Gaxiola, S. et al. Twelve-month prevalence rates of mental disorders and service use in the Argentinean Study of Mental Health Epidemiology. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 53, 121–129 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1475-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1475-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation