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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2004) 184: 299-305
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Population prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Chile: 6-month and 1-month rates{dagger}

BENJAMIN VICENTE, MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile

ROBERT KOHN, MD

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

PEDRO RIOSECO, MD and SANDRA SALDIVIA, PhD

University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile

CHRISTINE BAKER, MPH

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

SILVERIO TORRES

University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Correspondence: Professor B. Vicente, Universidad de Concepción, Departamento de Psiquiatríay Salud Mental, Casilla 60 -C, Concepción, Chile. Tel/fax: +56 4 131 2799; e-mail: bvicent{at}udec.cl

Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

{dagger} See editorial, pp. 289–290, this issue.

Background Few South American studies have examined current prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders.

Aims To examine prevalence rates in a nationally representative adult population from Chile.

Method The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was administered to a stratified random sample of 2978 individuals from four provinces representative of the country’s population. Six-month and 1-month prevalence rates were estimated. Demographic correlates, comorbidity and service use were examined.

Results Nearly a fifth of the Chilean population had had a psychiatric disorder during the preceding 6 months. The 6-month and 1-month prevalence rates were 19.7% and 16.7% respectively. For the 6-month prevalence the five most common disorders were simple phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence. Less than 30% of those with any psychiatric diagnosis had a comorbid psychiatric disorder and the majority of them had sought treatment from mental health services.

Conclusions Current prevalence studies are useful indicators of service needs. People with comorbid psychiatric conditions have high rates of service use. The low rate of comorbidity in Chile merits further study.


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