Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:12:23.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Baseline Study on Mental Disorders in Guiné-Bissau

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Joop T. V. M. de Jong
Affiliation:
Head of Department of Mental Health, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Bissau, Africa
Guus A. J. de Klein
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, WHO Collaborative Centre, Oostersingel 59, Postbox 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, Netherlands
Sineke G. H. M. M. ten Horn*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, WHO Collaborative Centre, Oostersingel 59, Postbox 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, Netherlands
*
Correspondence

Abstract

Adults attending general health facilities in Guiné-Bissau were screened for the presence of mental disorder; minimum estimate of definite mentally ill cases was found to be 12%. The proportion correctly identified by general health workers was low: only one of every three patients with a mental disorder was recognised and of every 100 non-cases 12 patients were wrongly diagnosed by the health worker as suffering from psychiatric illness. On the basis of these results health workers are now being taught how to detect mental illness.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dilling, H., Weyerer, S. & Enders, I. (1978) Patienten mit psychischen Störungen in der Algemeinpraxis und ihre psychiatrische Überweisungsbedürftigkeit. Monograph Gesamtgeb Psychiatrie, 17, 133160.Google Scholar
Dormar, M., Van Luijck, J. N. & Giel, R. (1974) Psychiatric illness in two contrasting Ethiopian outpatient populations. Social Psychiatry, 9, 155161.Google Scholar
Giel, R. (1972) Psychiatrie in de praktijk van de huisarts. Huisarts en Wetenschap, 15, 203209.Google Scholar
Giel, R. & Van Luijk, J. N. (1969) Psychiatric morbidity in a small Ethiopian town. British Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 149162.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. (1974) Psychiatric disorders. Lancet, ii, 12451247.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. & Blackwell, B. (1970) Psychiatric illness in general practice. A detailed study using a new method of case identification. British Medical Journal, ii, 439443.Google Scholar
Harding, T. W. (1973) The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. West Indian Medical Journal, 22, 190191.Google Scholar
Harding, T. W. Dearango, M. V., Baltazar, J., Climment, C. E., Ibrahim, H. H. A., Ladrido-Ignacio, L. et al (1980) Mental disorders in primary health care: A study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine, 10, 231241.Google Scholar
Hoeper, E. W. (1979) Observations on the impact of psychiatric disorders upon primary health care In Menthal Health Services in General Health-Care. Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
De Jong, J. T. V. M. (1982) Description du projet du Centre de Réhabilitation Mental å Brá. Publicacoes do Ministério da Saúde e Assuntos Sociais. Bissau.Google Scholar
De Jong, J. T. V. M. (1983) Proposition d'un programme de la santé mentale dans le cadre du plan quadriennal 1983–1987. Publicacoes do Ministério da Saude e Assuntos Sociais. Bissau.Google Scholar
Marks, J. N., Goldberg, D. P. & Hillier, V. F. (1979) Determinants of the ability of general practitioners to detect psychiatric illness. Psychological Medicine, 9, 337353.Google Scholar
Mbanefo, S. E. (1971) The general practitioner and psychiatry In Psychiatry and Mental Health Care in General Practice. Ibadan: University of Ibadan.Google Scholar
Ndetei, D. M. & Muhangi, J. (1979) The prevalence and clinical presentation of psychiatric illness in a rural setting in Kenya. British Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 269272.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M., Cooper, B., Brown, A. C. & Kalton, C. (1966) Psychiatric illness in General Practices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.