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The China Mental Health Survey: II. Design and field procedures

Abstract

China Mental Health Survey (CMHS), which was carried out from July 2013 to March 2015, was the first national representative community survey of mental disorders and mental health services in China using computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI). Face-to-face interviews were finished in the homes of respondents who were selected from a nationally representative multi-stage disproportionate stratified sampling procedure. Sample selection was integrated with the National Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance Survey administered by the National Centre for Chronic and Non-communicable Disease Control and Prevention in 2013, which made it possible to obtain both physical and mental health information of Chinese community population. One-stage design of data collection was used in the CMHS to obtain the information of mental disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders, while two-stage design was applied for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and dementia. A total of 28,140 respondents finished the survey with 72.9% of the overall response rate. This paper describes the survey mode, fieldwork organization, procedures, and the sample design and weighting of the CMHS. Detailed information is presented on the establishment of a new payment scheme for interviewers, results of the quality control in both stages, and evaluations to the weighting.

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Acknowledgements

The China Mental Health Survey (CMHS) is funded by the National “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” for Science and Technology Support of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant 2012BAI01B01 and 2015BAI13B00) and the Special Research Project for Non-profit Public Service of Ministry of Health (Grant 201202022). We would like to thank Professor Yude Chen and other consultants for their instructions and contributions through the whole process of CMHS. We sincerely acknowledge the support provided by all 31 partnership institutions; including Brains hospital of Hunan Province, Changchun City Mental Hospital, Changde Recovery Hospital of Hunan Province, Chifeng Anding Hospital, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Guangdong Mental Health Centre, Guizhou Second People’s Hospital, Hainan Provincial Anning Hospital, Hangzhou Seventh People’s Hospital, Hengyang Mental Health Centre of Hunan Province, Huzhou Third People’s Hospital, Jiangxi Mental Health Centre, Jingzhou Mental Health Centre of Hubei Province, Luoyang Rongkang Hospital of Henan Province, Mental Health Centre of Wuhan City, Mental Health Centre of Xi’an City, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Ningxia Minkang Hospital, Shandong Mental Health Centre, Shenyang 242 Hospital, Suzhou Guangji Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, the First Specialized Subject Hospital of Harbin, the People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Third People’s Hospital of Panzhihua City, Third People’s Hospital of Qinghai Province, Tianshui Mental Hospital of Gansu Province, Wuxi Mental Health Centre, Yuxi Second People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province, Zigong Mental Health Centre. We also thank Dr. William A Jefferson from Chinese Academy of Science for help with English grammar in our manuscripts.

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Correspondence to Yueqin Huang or Hong Wang.

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Liu, Z., Huang, Y., Lv, P. et al. The China Mental Health Survey: II. Design and field procedures. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 51, 1547–1557 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1269-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1269-5

Keywords

  • Epidemiologic research design
  • Survey mode
  • Fieldwork
  • Survey sampling
  • Sample weights