DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS FROM RURAL PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES: A CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY

INTRODUCTION: Clinical interview driven diagnosis has more validity than diagnosis based on structured interview schedules. Epidemiological studies from clinician evaluation would be more valuable to scientific world. Till date, there are no Indian studies on psychiatrist conducted clinical interview based epidemiological studies at primary care settings. OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of psychiatrist diagnosed mental illness at primary health centres(PHCs). METHODS: This was a retrospective review of data collected from Tele-On Consultation Training (Tele-OCT) program. It was conducted for 73 Primary Care Doctors working in PHCs of Mandya district, Karnataka over a duration of 26 months. RESULTS: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among adult population was 47.5%. Of those, most common were Common Mental Disorders (35.2%) followed by substance use (9.5%) and psychotic disorders (2.6%). DISCUSSION: It is the first clinical epidemiological study in primary care settings based on psychiatrist’s clinical interview from India. A significant proportion of patients attending PHCs were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. This study shows the feasibility of conducting such epidemiological studies with available time and resources.