Ten-year incidence and time trends of psychiatric disorders in Scutari from 2005 to 2015

Abstract

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Mental disorders are among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide. There is no data on mental health incidence in our country. Scutari is the most important city in north region of Albania, which provides hospital and day care mental health services for people living in this area. This retrospective study aimed to estimate the ten-year incidence and time trends of mental health cases, diagnosed in Scutari from 2005 to 2015. Method: All new cases diagnosed in Scutari during 2005-2015 were included in the study. The data were collected from statistic office registry of mental health Institutions in Scutari. We considered demographic and socioeconomic data, age, diagnosis, timing of first diagnose and the service which provided the care for each case. It was estimated the incidence per 100.000 inhabitants and it was analysed the time trends over a decade. Results: There were 7620 cases diagnosed in total during ten years. Among them about 83 % (n =6287) were hospital inpatients, while community mental health centres provided inpatient and day care for 17% of cases (n=1333). The incidence ranged from 244 to 378 per 100.000 inhabitants, still there was not much change in 68 POLIS No. 18, ISSUE 2/ 2019 the incidence rates over a decade. Community mental health services were established in Scutari in 2010 reflecting the new public health policy. Since 2010 community mental health centres had a rapid increase in figures each year, taking over some of the patients flow from state psychiatric hospital of Scutari which was the only service up to 2010. About 60% of diagnosed psychiatric patients were males versus 40% females; 57% lived in rural areas versus 43% in urban areas. The most prevalent diagnoses according ICD-10 were psychotic disorders (F20-29), followed by mood disorders (F 30-F39). Conclusion Mental disorders were more frequent in this study with predominance of Schizophrenia. Those problems were more common in male, in patients that live in rural area and unemployed persons. Young people and active age people were also more likely to have mental disorders that indicating an early age of onset for mood, anxiety and alcohol disorders.