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. 2013 Spring;17(2):50-4.
doi: 10.7812/TPP/12-081.

A novel population-based health index for mental disorder

David Cawthorpe  1
Affiliations

A novel population-based health index for mental disorder

David Cawthorpe. Perm J. 2013 Spring.

Abstract

Introduction: A novel population-based health index was identified, in addition to calculation of the rates of psychiatric disorder in a random sample from a large urban center.

Methods: With use of the regional population as a sampling frame, 685,684 individuals (45.8% male) were selected randomly, with physician billing visit and cost data from 1994 to 2009 grouped on the basis of the presence or absence of a psychiatric disorder. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder was described and the groups were further analyzed in terms of somatic and biomedical disorders with the profile of depression highlighted.

Results: In the sample (45.8% male), the annual prevalence of psychiatric disorder from 1994 to 2009 was found to increase in 3 age strata (children, 5.3%; adults, 4.4%; and geriatric subjects, 6.2%). Depressive disorders as a group provided an example of the population profile. The cumulative rate of psychiatric disorder was 53% over 16 fiscal years. In comparison with the group without psychiatric disorder, the median cost of physical (biomedical/somatic) disorders was 2.9 times higher for the group with any International Classification of Diseases psychiatric disorder.

Discussion: The arithmetic ratio of median somatic and biomedical health costs, comparing groups with and without psychiatric disorders, was presented as a novel population health index that holds the potential to directly measure the impact of promotion and prevention programs associated with psychiatric disorders.

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