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Stress and psychiatric disorder in rural Punjab

A community survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

David B. Mumford*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol
Khalid Saeed
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan
Imtiaz Ahmad
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan
Shazia Latif
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan
Malik H. Mubbashar
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan
*
David B. Mumford, Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol, 41 St Michael's Hill. Bristol BS2 8DZ. Fax: 0117 925 9709

Abstract

Background

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in rural Punjab is unknown. Previous studies in rural areas elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent have yielded widely differing estimates.

Method

First-stage screening of a village near Gujar Khan used the Bradford Somatic Inventory and Self Reporting Questionnaire. Psychiatric interviews were conducted with stratified samples using the ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research.

Results

It is estimated that 66% of women and 25% of men suffered from anxiety and depressive disorders. Levels of emotional distress increased with age in both genders. Women living in unitary households reported more distress than those living in extended or joint families. With younger men and women, lower levels of education were associated with greater risk of psychiatric disorders. Social disadvantage was associated with more emotional distress.

Conclusions

This study in rural Punjab confirms the findings of a previous study in Chitral, northern Pakistan, of high levels of emotional distress and psychiatric morbidity among women in rural areas of Pakistan.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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