Social economic inequalities and mental health II. Methodological aspects and literature review

Epidemiology of major depressive episode in a southern European country: results from the ESEMeD-Spain project

BACKGROUND

Information of the epidemiology of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in Spain, one of the biggest southern European countries, is scarce and heterogeneous. The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiology of the disorder in the Spanish sample of the ESEMeD project.

METHODS

The ESEMED-Spain project is a cross-sectional, general population, household survey conducted with a representative sample of Spanish non-institutionalized adult population. The survey instrument was the CIDI 3.0, a structured diagnostic interview to assess disorders and treatment.

RESULTS

Lifetime prevalence was 10.6% while 12-month prevalence was 4.0%. A monotonic increase in lifetime overall prevalence was found from the youngest to the 50-64 cohort, declining then in the oldest group. Median age of onset was 30.0. Being a woman (OR=2.7), previously married (OR=1.8), unemployed or disabled to work (OR=2.9) was associated to higher risk of 12-month-MDE. The highest comorbid associations were with dysthymia (OR=73.1) and panic disorder (OR=41.8).

LIMITATIONS

1. Psychiatric diagnoses were made by trained lay interviewers and this could have an imperfect sensitivity/specificity; 2. Individuals with mental illness could have more frequently rejected to participate in the survey; 3. Age-related recall bias could have affected the accuracy of age of onset estimates.

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows that prevalence MDE in Spain is lower than in other Western countries. Important findings are the early age of onset, the high proportion of chronicity, and the high female/male ratio. Taken together, results offer a complex picture of the epidemiology of MDE in Spain, when compared to other countries in Europe. The role of cultural factors is discussed.

Prevalence of common mental disorders in Italy: results from the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD)

OBJECTIVE

To present 1-month, 12-month and lifetime prevalence estimates of mood, anxiety and alcohol disorders in Italy; and the socio-demographic correlates and comorbidity patterns of these estimated disorders.

METHOD

A representative random sample of non-institutionalised citizens of Italy aged 18 or older (N=4,712) was interviewed between January 2001 and July 2003, with a weighted response rate of 71.3%. DSM-IV disorders were assessed by lay interviewers using Version 3.0 of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).

RESULTS

A total of 11% of respondents reported a lifetime history of any mood disorder, 10.3% any anxiety disorder and 1.3% any alcohol disorder. About 5% reported having an anxiety disorder in the past 12 months compared to 3.3% for any mood disorder and 0.2% for any alcohol disorder. Major depression and specific phobia were the most common mental disorders. Women were twice as likely as men to report a mood disorder and four times as likely as men to report an anxiety disorder, while men were twice as likely as women to report an alcohol disorder. High comorbidity of mood and anxiety disorders was observed. Prevalence estimates were generally lower than in parallel surveys carried out in other Western European countries.

CONCLUSION

A high proportion of adults in Italy have a history of mood, anxiety or alcohol disorders. The lower than expected prevalence estimate of alcohol use disorder may be due to under-reporting or to low social harm from alcohol consumption.

[Social deprivation and mental health. Replicability and applicability in the Italian context of the resource allocation methods developed in the United Kingdom]

AIMS

Most of the available evidence on the relationship between socioeconomic indicators of social deprivation and patterns of use of mental health services has been produced in the United Kingdom, where the Ministry of Health has developed a resource allocation formula based upon the results of those studies. The main aim of the paper is to evaluate the replicability in the Italian context of such research, and of the resulting allocation strategies.

METHODS

Detailed description of the resource allocation method currently adopted in the United Kingdom, whose main purpose consists in reaching the best balance between available funding and patterns of need. Detailed description of resource allocation processes in Italy; discussion of the main methodological and statistical limitations restraining the replicability of the British formula in the Italian context.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a growing interest in Italy towards the introduction of evidence-based methods in health decision making, in order to correct the overwhelming influence of political issues. What is needed is a better understanding of the relationship between higher levels of equity in health services access, and their effects in terms of better outcomes.

A census-based socio-economic status (SES) index as a tool to examine the relationship between mental health services use and deprivation

This paper discusses the development and application of a socio-economic status (SES) index, created to explore the relationship between socio-economic variables and psychiatric service use. The study was conducted in a community-based mental health service (CMHS) in Verona, Northern Italy, utilising service use data from 1996. An ecological SES index was constructed through a factor analysis from 1991 Census data, at census block level. Three factors reflected the following domains: the educational-employment sector (with four components), the relational network (with three components) and the material conditions (with three components). All service users were assigned a SES value, according to their place of residence in 1996. When these data were explored spatially, using ArcView 8.3, an association was observed between socio-economic deprivation and psychiatric service use. The SES index was then successfully validated using occupational status at the individual level. This study confirms the usefulness of developing and validating an ecological census-based SES index, for service planning and resource allocation in an area with a community-based system of mental health care.

Does socioeconomic status affect the use of community-based psychiatric services? A South Verona case register study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on psychiatric service use in an Italian area with a well-developed community-based psychiatric service.

METHOD

An index of SES was calculated from nine census variables and grouped into four categories, ranging from SES-I-affluent to SES-IV-deprived, for each of 328 census blocks (CB). Fifteen indicators of psychiatric service use were collected using the psychiatric case register. All patients resident in the catchment area, who had at least one psychiatric contact in 1996 (n=989), were included in the study.

RESULTS

Indicators of in-patient, day-patient, out-patient and community service use showed an inverse association with SES. Only first-ever and long-term psychotic patients were equally distributed in the four SES groups.

CONCLUSION

The inverse association between SES and most indicators of psychiatric service use suggests that the planning of community-based services and resource allocation should take into account the SES of residents.