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Prevalence of mental disorders in the Zurich Cohort Study: a twenty year prospective study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2011

Jules Angst ,
Alex Gamma ,
Martin Neuenschwander ,
Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross ,
Dominique Eich ,
Wulf Rössler  and
Kathleen R. Merikangas
Jules Angst*
Affiliation:
Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Alex Gamma
Affiliation:
Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Martin Neuenschwander
Affiliation:
Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross
Affiliation:
Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Dominique Eich
Affiliation:
Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Wulf Rössler
Affiliation:
Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Kathleen R. Merikangas
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Intramural Research Program, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Bethesda, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. J. Angst, Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Lenggstr. 31, Mail Box 68, CH-8029 Zurich(Switzerland). Fax: +41-1-38424.46 E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

Background — In order to minimise retrospective recall in developing estimates of the prevalence of mental dis-orders in the general population, we conducted a prospective study of a cohort of youth from Zurich, Switzerland. Method — A 20 year prospective study of a community-based cohort aged 19-20 from Zurich Switzerland. The sample was enriched by subjects scoring high on the Symptom Checklist 90 R (Derogatis, 1977). A semi-structured diagnostic interview was administered by clinically experienced psychologists and psychiatrists. The six interviews from 1979 to 1999 assessed diagnoses and sub-threshold manifestations of major diagnostic categories (with the exception of schizophrenia) for the past twelve months, depending on the current DSM versions (DSM-IH, DSM-HI R, DSM-IV). Additional information on symptoms and treatment were collected for the years between the interviews. The reported prevalence rates are weighted for stratified sampling and cumulate the one-year rates of the six interviews. Results — The cumulative weighted prevalence rates for any psychiatric disorder were 48.6% excluding, and 57.7% including tobacco dependence. In addition 29.2% and 21.8%, respectively manifested sub-diagnostic syndromes. Overall there were no significant gender differences. The corresponding treatment prevalence rates were 22.4% and 31.1%, respectively for the diagnostic subjects and 6.9% and 6.1 %, respectively for the sub-diagnostic groups. The total treatment prevalence rate was 37.2% of the population (males 30.0%, females 44.1%). Conclusions — Our findings reveal that psychiatric disorders are quite common in the general population. When the spectra of mental disorders are considered, nearly three quarters of the general population will have manifested at least one of the mental disorders across their lifetime. Limitations — The data are based on a relatively small sample; a single age cohort, and the study was conducted in Zurich, Switzerland. These study features may diminish the generalisability of the findings.

Declaration of Interest: this work was supported by Grant 3200-050881.97/1 of the Swiss National Science Foundation, and Research Scientist Development Awards (MH 46376 and DA00293) from the US National Institutes of Health (Dr. Merikangas).

Keywords

prevalencecommunitycohort studymental disorderssub-diagnostic syndromes
Type
Invited Paper
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 68 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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