Major mental disorders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. II. Affective disorders

This report examines the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of aff ective disorders based on a survey conducted in Addis Ababa between Septemb er and December of 1994. An Amharic version of the CIDI was used to collect data from a random community sample of 1420 individuals aged 15 and above. The lifetime prevalence for specific affective disorders was as follows: b ipolar disorders 0.3%, depressive episodes 2.7%, recurrent depressive episo des 0.2%, and persistent mood disorders 1.6%. The weighted lifetime prevale nce of affective disorders was 5.0% (women 7.7% and men 3.2%). One-month pr evalence was 3.8% (women 5.9% and men 2.3%). After adjusting for several po tential confounders, the risk of affective disorders was only 29% higher in women compared to men. This difference in risk was not statistically signi ficant. Age was also not associated with risk of affective disorders. On th e other hand, education was associated with the risk of disorder, the risk decreasing with increasing educational attainment. This inverse trend was s tatistically significant (P for trend = 0.02). The risk was also 37% lower in the employed than the unemployed: Odds Ratio (OR), 95% confidence interv al (95% Cl) = 0.63 (0.39, 1.01). There were no statistically significant as sociations between affective disorders and marital status or ethnicity.