Background:

The growing presence of people with psychiatric disorders assisted in public health services in Ecuador, promotions the development of epidemiological studies that allow to know how these disorders are distributed among unlike groups, so for an adequate planning of mental health services; however, there are available studies with differences in the design, instruments and sample selection, which affect the results and conclusions, such as under-registration and over-diagnosis of mental disorders.

Objective:

To analyze methodological differences between studies of psychiatric morbidity of overall population, as well as the unlike results obtained from these investigations.

Methodology:

Comparative study of psychiatric morbidity research of overall population, based on the analysis of publications from 2000 to 2019 in Ecuador.

Results:

Thirteen studies were registered, four surveys and two national studies on drug use, one on psychiatric prevalence, and six on screening for mental disorders, in populations aged 13 to 75 years. Screening instruments were used the most, the same for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as the diagnostic classification, fourth version (DSM-IV). The prevalence used was point prevalence, last month, annual and of lifetime. The most frequent disorders were anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and behavior due to drug use.

Conclusions:

The studies on psychiatric morbidity conducted in Ecuador are heterogeneous in the use of instruments, subjects and sample calculation, as well as their results, so it is pertinent to develop researches from this nature adjusted to the country´s reality and resources, consequently, its findings be useful for the planning of mental health services and policies in Ecuador.

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