MENTAL-HEALTH IN THE NORTH-WEST REGION OF ENGLAND - ASSOCIATIONS WITHDEPRIVATION

Minor psychiatric morbidity is known to be associated with social disa dvantage, but few studies have explored this association at the popula tion level. This study reports data from a postal survey across 19 hea lth districts in one region, with a total sample of 38,000 respondents . The percentage scoring above the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) threshold for each health district was correlated with measures of dep rivation derived from the 1991 census and standardised mortality ratio s. Highly significant correlations were seen between the percentage ab ove the GHQ threshold and the Underpriveleged Area (UPA) score (r = 0. 84), under 65 Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR; r = 0.80), lack of am enities (r = 0.56), overcrowding (r = 0.54), lone-parent families (r = 0.84), unemployment (r = 0.87), unskilled workers (r = 0.77), ethnic minority composition (r = 0.58) and social mobility (r = 0.85). Howeve r, the three most deprived districts had the lowest response rates and when these were excluded from the analysis, only the correlations wit h under 65 SMR (r = 0.57, P < 0.05), UPA score (r = 0.52, P < 0.05) an d unskilled workers (r = 0.60, P < 0.05) remained significant. There m ay be a threshold effect for the impact of social disadvantage on ment al health, with much higher rates of psychological morbidity among mar kedly disadvantaged populations.