MENTAL DISORDERS: MORE DIFFICULT TO BE EVALUATED IN RELATION TO PHYSICAL DISORDERS
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Common methods of assessment of mental and physical disorders may underestimate the presence and spread among people.
A new study from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins , led by Dr. Yoichiro Takayanagi, and published in JAMA Psychiatry, reveals substantial differences among middle-aged adults and seniors in the reporting of mental disorders such as depression, with respect to the reporting of physical ailments such as arthritis and hypertension.
The study was based on interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 with 1,071 adults who were asked to provide their own self-assessments in relation to the six categories of mental disorders : major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder , panic disorder , social phobia , alcohol abuse or dependence , drug abuse or addiction.
The participants underestimated their ailments even if they had reported the presence several times in the previous three assessments . On the contrary, when they are requested evaluations of physical ailments , divided into five categories - diabetes, hypertension, arthritis , stroke, cancer - the answers were a better match with what is revealed in previous interviews .
The study found that the estimates of the duration of mental disorders ascertained by the last assessment from previous assessments are 4.5 % versus 13.1% for major depressive disorder , 0.6% versus 7.1% for obsessive compulsive disorder, 2.5% against 6.7% for panic disorder , 12.6 against 25.3% for social phobia , 9.1% against 25.9% for alcohol abuse or dependence , and 6.7% against 17.6% for drug abuse or addiction.
While estimates of physical disorders measured since the last assessment from previous assessments were 18.2 % versus 20.2% for diabetes, 48.4% against 55.4% for hypertension , 45 , 8 % compared to 54.0% for arthritis , 5.5% compared with 7.2 % for stroke, and 8.4% against 10.5% for cancer.
Dr. Mojtabai explained that the contrast in the perception / memory of mental disorders than physical ones is significant and may be attributable to age differences in the onset of the disorder and the course of the disorder itself: " The fluctuating course of mental illness , may partly explain the discrepancies , as well as differences in age of onset of mental and physical disorders . mental disorders usually begin before and have a higher prevalence in the first half of life, while physical ailments are usually diseases of middle age and old age and tend to be chronic . " The authors noted that measurement problems may help explain the differences in perception / memory of mental and physical diseases . The assessment of mental disorders is based on perceived symptoms , while the assessment of physical illness was based on the presence of ailments real and measurable.
Source: Worldhealth
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