Abstract

RODRIGUEZ MIRANDA, Osbert; APOLINAIRE PENNINI, Juan José  and  ALONSO ALOMA, Ismell. Prevalencia de alteraciones de la salud mental y factores de riesgo relevantes. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2003, vol.19, n.4, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3038.

Given the high prevalence rate of mental health disorders in primary health care and the high percentage of patients who are not covered by this diagnosis, instruments such as Goldberg´s general health questionnaire has been developed, the diagnostic usefulness of which requires practical evaluation in our context. The present research used the above-mentioned questionnaire to determine the possible prevalence of mental health disorders in our area; additionally, a case-control study was performed to evaluate possible risk variables for both groups to find out if there was higher risk of mental health disorder in the case group. Detected prevalence was comparable to other studies and all the variables showed an interesting relation with mental health disorder so, the hypothesis of our research work was proven. Goldberg´s General Health Questionnaire constitutes a useful tool in the hands of the primary health care physician.

Keywords : MENTAL DISORDERS [diagnosis]; MENTAL DISORDERS [epidemiology]; MENTAL HEALTH; RISK FACTORS; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES; CASE-CONTROL STUDIES.