Objective: There is little published literature about the characteristics of patients with mental disorders in rural hospitals. The aim of this study is to determine the mental illness and the demographics of the patients who admit to the outpatient policlinic that offers psychiatric health service for the first time in a rural state hospital.
Method: The semi-structured interview consisting DSM-IV diagnostic criterias were used for the patients who admitted to the psychiatry policlinic of Kutahya Gediz State Hospital in a 6-month-period. Sociodemographic data were collected from 555 people aged over 18.
Results: Mean age of the patients was 44.7. The rate of women was 67.2% (n=373) and male was 32.8% (n=182). The most frequent DSM-IV diagnoses were mood disorders (n=249, 44%), anxiety disorders (n=179, 32.5%), psychotic disorders (n=52, 9.4%), adjustment disorders (n=26, 4.7%) and somatoform disorders (n=21, 3.8%). Twenty of people had subthreshold symptoms and could not be diagnosed. Comorbidities including diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hypothyroid were frequently observed in psychiatric patients (n=163, 29.4%). Adjustment disorders were mostly seen at younger ages. Psychiatric disorders were most common in married people.
Conclusion: The mean age of the patients were found older than previous studies. Women were more commonly admitting to the outpatient psychiatric policlinic. Its remarkable that marriage and psychiatric disorders have a strong association in the rural setting. Clinicians also should consider about comorbid somatic diseases.
Key words: Rural area, psychiatric disorders, somatic comorbidity, sociodemographic features
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