Meu SciELO
Serviços Personalizados
Journal
Artigo
Indicadores
- Citado por SciELO
- Acessos
Links relacionados
- Citado por Google
- Similares em SciELO
- Similares em Google
Compartilhar
Gaceta Sanitaria
versão impressa ISSN 0213-9111
Resumo
HENARES MONTIEL, Jesús; RUIZ-PEREZ, Isabel e SORDO, Luis. Mental health in Spain and differences by sex, and by autonomous communities. Gac Sanit [online]. 2020, vol.34, n.2, pp.114-119. Epub 01-Jun-2020. ISSN 0213-9111. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2019.03.002.
Objective
To describe the evolution of psychological distress in the adult Spanish population in 2006, 2011 and 2017. To study the mental health status of the population in 2017 analyzing the prevalence of psychological distress, prescription of psychiatric drugs, diagnosis and self-perceived health, in Spain and in the autonomous regions, and differentiating between men and women.
Method
Cross-sectional study, using data from the 2006, 2011 and 2017 National Health Surveys in Spain. Variables: psychological distress (GHQ-12), self-perceived health, mental disorder diagnosis, prescription of psychiatric drugs, sex and autonomous community. The frequencies, percentages and confidence intervals at 95% were calculated. The statistical significance level for the chi-square test was p < 0.05.
Results
The prevalence of psychological distress in Spain was 22.2% in 2006, 22.1% in 2011 and 19.1% in 2017. With the exception of Cantabria in 2011, in all cases the prevalence of psychological distress was higher in women than men. In 2017, most of the autonomous communities showed prevalence of diagnosis and poor self-perceived health near the Spanish average (15.4% and 33.6%, respectively). The Spanish average of tranquilizer prescription was 9.2%. The highest prevalence was found in Galicia while the lowest was found in Cantabria (overall population and men) and Ceuta and Melilla (women). The Spanish average of antidepressant prescription was 3.6%. The highest prevalence was found in Asturias (overall population and women) and in Galicia (men), while the lowest was found in Ceuta and Melilla.
Conclusions
Psychological distress is a prevalent phenomenon although its prevalence in Spain has decreased slightly. There are big differences in the prescription of psychiatric drugs between each autonomous community. Women showed poorer outcomes on each mental health indicator analyzed.
Palavras-chave : Mental health; Gender inequalities; National Health Survey; Autonomous community; Psychiatric drugs.