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Prevalence of common mental disorders in general practice attendees across Europe

Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, UK

Irwin Nazareth, MBBS, PhD and Gus Levy, MSc

Medical Research Council General Practice Research Framework, UK

Carl Walker, BSc, PhD

Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, UK

Richard Morris

Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, University College London, UK

Scott Weich, MBBS, DM

Health Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, UK

Juan Ángel Bellón-Saameño, MD, PhD

El Palo Health Centre, Department of Preventive Medicine, Malaga, Spain

Berta Moreno, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, University of Granada, Spain

Igor vab, MD, PhD, Danica Rotar, MD, MSc and J. Rifel, MD

Department of Family Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Heidi-Ingrid Maaroos, MD, PhD, Anu Aluoja, PhD and Ruth Kalda, MD, Dr. Med Sci, Faculty of Medicine

University of Tartu, Estonia

Jan Neeleman, MD, PhD and Mirjam I. Geerlings, PhD

University Medical Center, Utrecht, Netherlands

Miguel Xavier, MD, PhD

Faculdade Ciências Médicas, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Manuel Caldas de Almeida, MD

Mora Health Centre, Portugal

Bernardo Correa, MD

Faculdade Ciências Médicas, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Francisco Torres-Gonzalez, MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, University of Granada, Spain

Correspondence: Professor Michael King, Department of Mental Health Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF, UK. Email: m.king{at}medsch.ucl.ac.uk

Background

There is evidence that the prevalence of common mental disorders varies across Europe.

Aims

To compare prevalence of common mental disorders in general practice attendees in six European countries.

Method

Unselected attendees to general practices in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Estonia and The Netherlands were assessed for major depression, panic syndrome and other anxiety syndrome. Prevalence of DSM–IV major depression, other anxiety syndrome and panic syndrome was compared between the UK and other countries after taking account of differences in demographic factors and practice consultation rates.

Results

Prevalence was estimated in 2344 men and 4865 women. The highest prevalence for all disorders occurred in the UK and Spain, and lowest in Slovenia and The Netherlands. Men aged 30–50 and women aged 18–30 had the highest prevalence of major depression; men aged 40–60 had the highest prevalence of anxiety, and men and women aged 40–50 had the highest prevalence of panic syndrome. Demographic factors accounted for the variance between the UK and Spain but otherwise had little impact on the significance of observed country differences.

Conclusions

These results add to the evidence for real differences between European countries in prevalence of psychological disorders and show that the burden of care on general practitioners varies markedly between countries.

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