Mental disorders on the island of Formentera: prevalence in general population using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN)

Background: The aims of this two-stage epidemiological study were: to deter mine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the general population of t he island of Formentera (Balearic Isles, Spain): to provide reference data for subsequent health care planning, and to test a relatively new assessmen t instrument, the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCA N), in a community study. Method: It was designed as a cross-sectional two- stage community study using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) at st age one (N = 697), and the SCAN at stage two (N = 242). Results: Estimated prevalence of disorders was 21.4% according to the ICD-IO classification sy stem. Neurotic and somatoform disorders were the most prevalent, followed b y substance-related, sleep and mood disorders. Total prevalence of mental d isorders showed no significant differences according to sex. As regards age , mood and anxiety disorders were most prevalent in the 30- to 50-year age group, and sleep disorders were more prevalent in the older group. Conclusi on: Prevalences of mental disorders in Formentera are higher than those fou nd in two-stage studies in other countries and similar to those found in mo st studies in Spain, despite the variety of the instruments used.