Prevalence of Mental Disorders in India and Other South Asian Countries

Abstract

The present study focused on a systematic review and meta-analysis of literature related to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in India and other South Asian countries.This study was carried out to fill up the scanty research conducted in the quantitative review of the prevalence of common mental disorders in South Asian countries.For this purpose, PubMed, PsycINFO, EBSCOhost and Google Scholar databases were searched to find out studies that examined the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in South Asia.Subsequently, additional articles were searched based on the references mentioned in the identified published studies.Retrieved articles were systematically selected using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria.The present meta-analysis included 34 epidemiological studies consisting of 158555 persons, out of which a total number of 8389 persons were reported to have mental disorders across seven countries of South Asia.This alarming number of mentally disordered people amounts to 122 per 1000 population, i.e. (95% CI: 8-252, Z = 1.82, p<0.06).Epidemiological studies also reported that prevalence of mental disorders varied from 6.06 to 533.73/1000 population in South Asia.From the present review, it may be concluded that psychiatric disorders are affecting people across all the regions of South Asia and appears to be a serious public health issue in South Asia.

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