Abstract

CAMPO-ARIAS, Adalberto et al. Common Mental Disorders in Colombian Women. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2011, vol.40, n.2, pp.244-250. ISSN 0034-7450.

Objective: To explore the prevalence of common mental disorders and their association with health-related behaviors in Colombian women. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a multi-stage probability sample of women from the general population. Common mental disorders were explored with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) with a cut-off point of eleven or more. Non conditional logistic regression was computed to adjust associated variables. Results: A total of 1,740 women participated in this research. The mean age of participants was 38.3 years (SD=13.3), mean years of education were 8.8 years (SD=3.9), 59.5% were married, 37.0% were employed, 1.4% reported abusive alcohol consumption, 6.3% daily cigarette smoking, 44.5% daily coffee intake, 17.5% a medical condition, and 15.7% (95% CI 14.0-17.4) scored for a common mental disorder. Abusive alcohol consumption (OR=6.4, 95% CI 2.7-15.2), daily cigarette smoking (OR=3.3, 95% CI 2.1-5.0), medical condition (OR=2.0, 95% CI 1.4-2.8), and daily coffee intake (OR=1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.8) were associated with common mental disorders, adjusted for age and education. Conclusions: Common mental disorders are frequent in Colombian women. Health risk behaviors and stressful events are strongly related to common mental disorders. It is necessary to identify and treat these mental disorders early on to reduce health risk behaviors in women.

Keywords : Mental disorders; prevalence; women's health; cross-sectional studies; Trastornos mentales; prevalencia; salud de las mujeres; estudios transversales.

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