Twelve-month prevalence, comorbidity and correlates of mental disorders in Germany: the Mental Health Module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1-MH)

• Published in: International journal of methods in psychiatric research Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 304 - 319
• Main Authors: Jacobi, Frank, Höfler, Michael, Siegert, Jens, Mack, Simon, Gerschler, Anja, Scholl, Lucie, Busch, Markus A., Hapke, Ulfert, Maske, Ulrike, Seiffert, Ingeburg, Gaebel, Wolfgang, Maier, Wolfgang, Wagner, Michael, Zielasek, Jürgen, Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2014; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Comorbidity; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Germany - epidemiology; Health Surveys; Humans; Interview, Psychological; Male; mental disorders; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Sex Distribution; Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Young Adult; Germany; prevalence; comorbidity; mental disorders
• ISSN: 1049-8931; 1557-0657; 1557-0657
• DOI: 10.1002/mpr.1439

This paper provides up to date prevalence estimates of mental disorders in Germany derived from a national survey (German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults, Mental Health Module [DEGS1‐MH]). A nationally representative sample (N = 5318) of the adult (18–79) population was examined by clinically trained interviewers with a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (DEGS‐CIDI) to assess symptoms, syndromes and diagnoses according to DSM‐IV‐TR (25 diagnoses covered). Of the participants 27.7% met criteria for at least one mental disorder during the past 12 months, among them 44% with more than one disorder and 22% with three or more diagnoses. Most frequent were anxiety (15.3%), mood (9.3%) and substance use disorders (5.7%). Overall rates for mental disorders were substantially higher in women (33% versus 22% in men), younger age group (18–34: 37% versus 20% in age group 65–79), when living without a partner (37% versus 26% with partnership) or with low (38%) versus high socio‐economic status (22%). High degree of urbanization (> 500,000 inhabitants versus < 20,000) was associated with elevated rates of psychotic (5.2% versus 2.5%) and mood disorders (13.9% versus 7.8%). The findings confirm that almost one third of the general population is affected by mental disorders and inform about subsets in the population who are particularly affected. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.