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Prevalence of mental disorders and family dysfunction in the urban parish of Urcuquí

Abstract:

Mental health problems are high prevalence pathologies that affect all people, without any discrimination at the global level; And these have been linked to several factors, both biological and psychosocial, plus the effect that the family exerts as a risk factor or as a protective factor for individuals, suffering from a mental health condition. In our country, there are not enough epidemiological studies in the general population, this being our study objective. A two-stage cross-sectional analytical epidemiological study was carried out in which the prevalence of mental disorders, the self-perception of family functionality and the predominant family structure in the urban parish of Urcuquí were evaluated through the application of the following instruments: Self-Reporting Quetionnaire (SRQ), self-administered APGAR family questionnaire and genogram, to a total of 310 people between the ages of 18-65 years, selected by simple random sampling and interviewed in their own home. In the second phase, a diagnostic confirmation was performed through a semi-structured psychiatric interview with 60.4% of those who scored as positive in the Self Reporting Questionnaire. There were 96 positive cases with SRQ (31%). Of these, 55 (17.7%) were positive for neurosis, 31 cases (10.1%) for alcoholism, 24 (7.7%) for psychosis and 6 (1.9%) for epilepsy. 164 families (52.9%) presented some degree of dysfunction, with mild dysfunction being the most frequent with 93 cases (30%). The type of family that predominates in the parish of Urcuquí is nuclear (57.5%); however, dysfunction is present and is related to an increased risk of mental disorders.