Stress and psychiatric disorder in urban Rawalpindi - Community survey

Background Recent studies in rural areas of Pakistan have yielded high prev alence rates of common mental disorders, especially among women. Aims To investigate emotional distress and common mental disorders in a poo r urban district using the same survey method. Method First-stage screening of a slum district of Rawalpindi used the Brad ford Somatic Inventory. Psychiatric interviews were conducted with stratifi ed samples using the ICD-IO research diagnostic criteria. Results On a conservative estimate, 25% of women and 10% of men suffered fr om anxiety and depressive disorders. Levels of emotional distress increased with age in both men and women. Women living in joint households reported more distress than those living in unitary families. Higher levels of educa tion were associated with lower risk of common mental disorders, especially in younger women. Emotional distress was negatively correlated with socio- economic variables among women. Conclusions This study found levels of emotional distress and psychiatric m orbidity in a poor district of Rawalpindi to be less than half those ina ne arby rural village in the Punjab, although rates in women were still double those in men. Possible explanations are that more healthy people migrate t o the cities or that urban living is more conducive to good mental health i n Pakistan.