Diagnostic Distribution of Psychiatric Disorders among Korean Young Adults.

Abstract

ObjectivesThe prevalence of psychiatric disorders among young adults is different from that among younger or older age groups because of biological and environmental changes. The purpose of this study was to analyze the diagnostic distribution of psychiatric disorders in 19–30-year-old Koreans based on their age and gender using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).MethodsFrom the 2011 medical claims sample data of NHIS of 1,375,842 people, we extracted the data of 221,038 people aged 19–30 years, including 106,232 (48.1%) men and 114,806 (51.9%) women. We evaluated the overall changes in the diagnostic distribution of psychiatric disorders over a 3-year period.ResultsThe diagnostic frequency in women was 13,627 (59.0%), which was significantly higher than that in men. “Other anxiety disorders” was the most common psychiatric disorder in both genders, followed by depressive episodes, somatoform disorders, “other neurotic disorders,” and nonorganic sleep disorders. In men, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disabilities were not among the top 10 disorders. In women, no significant changes in major psychiatric disorders were seen over the 3-year period.ConclusionThese results reveal the trends of diagnostic distribution of mental illnesses depending on the development, particularly in young adulthood. It is necessary to identify whether such trends are due to biological or environmental factors, aging processes, or complex influences.