Abstract
Purpose : Asa part of the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health Survey Initiative (WMH), epidemiologic studies of mental health problems including mental disorders were carried out in 11 regions in Japan. Of these studies, this paper reports the actual situation of mental health in a metropolitan area of Japan.
Subjects and Methods : The subjectsin thiss tudy were 1010 men and women over 20 yearso f age, living in I ward, Y city. Interviews were carried out face-to-face between the interviewer and the subject, and WMH computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) was used. The study was conducted between November 2005 and June 2006.
Results : Valid responses were obtained from 377 individuals (response rate : 40.9%). The lifetime prevalence of mental disorders was approximately 40% for both sexes, and the 12-month prevalence of mental disorders for women was twice that for men. In terms of age, people in their 20s had the highest prevalence. Among specific disorders, major depression disorder was the most prevalent in mood disorders. Suicidal behavior was seen in both men and women. Approximately 4% of the subjects had consulted a psychiatrist for mental health problems.
Discussion and Conclusion : The trend of results obtained here was the same as in previous studies. There wasno great difference between the percentages of those who consulted a psychiatrist and those who consulted a non-psychiatrist physician. This showed the importance of the role of non-psychiatrist physicians for medical treatment in a metropolitan area of Japan.
