The Sichuan Mental Health Survey: Methodology.

Rong-Cheng Su,Li-Hong Huang,Jia Li,Hui Li,Bo Zhou,Jia-Jun Zhao

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.645355

Abstract

The Sichuan Mental Health Survey (SMHS) is a provincially representative survey with a coherent methodology to obtain the prevalence of multiple mental disorders and data of services used and to analyze the psychological and social risk factors or correlates in Sichuan, China. Mental disorders include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders, drug use and alcohol use disorders, impulse control disorder, and eating disorders. A cross-sectional design is employed to sample adults from 200 communities/villages in all 21 prefectural-level municipalities of Sichuan Province in a five-stage provincially representative disproportionate stratified sampling design. The participants need to be interviewed face to face by trained interviewers from local primary healthcare institutions and by psychiatrists. The quality control staff implement data quality control by checking records and statistics in the interview system, and then re-interviewing checks are done by the psychiatrists. Data is weighted to adjust the sample distribution to match the whole population. The outcomes of the SMHS would not only demonstrate the serious challenges posed by the high burdens of mental disorders but also offer baseline data for policymakers and healthcare professionals to study and resolve the factors that influence mental health in Sichuan, China.

Highlights

In the past 40 years, thanks to the Reform and Opening Up Policy, Sichuan Province, along with China, has undergone extraordinary social change and economic development
Drastic changes have occurred in the treatment of mental disorders over the past decades, but a provincially representative survey that mainly focuses on the usage of the services of mental disorders in Sichuan is still missing
Sampling Design The interviewees are selected from a five-stage provincially representative multi-stage disproportionate stratified sampling design using demographic data offered by the Municipal Institute of Mental Health (MIMH) in all 21 prefectural-level cities of Sichuan Province

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In the past 40 years, thanks to the Reform and Opening Up Policy, Sichuan Province, along with China, has undergone extraordinary social change and economic development. This transition has led to huge changes in demographics, urbanization, economic prosperity, migration, transportation, education, culture, social concepts, environmental pressure, and disease epidemiology. These changes may have negative impacts on the prevalence and disease burden of mental disorders. In order to improve the mental health of citizens, the Chinese and Sichuan provincial governments have issued a series of regulations and policies. The upcoming mental health promotion part of the “Healthy China Initiative 2030” will focus on improving the mental health system of China

Design and Field Procedures

Fieldwork Procedures and Organization

ETHICS STATEMENT

Findings

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT