Background. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in selected semiurban primary care centers in Lagos Island, Nigeria using the screening tool GHQ-12 and the ICD 10 mental disorders checklist (primary care) (ICD 10 PC). Methods. In this multistage cross-sectional study, 400 participants were recruited by using proportional sampling of 17,787 attendees. Results. Of all respondents, 45.8% scored positive on GHQ-12. The most prevalent “any ICD 10 disorder” was unexplained somatic disorder (57.5%), while 2.0 to 7.8% of the respondents reported varying levels of disablement. Younger age ( ) and being widowed ( ) were significantly associated with high GHQ scores while younger age ( ) and male gender ( ) were significantly associated with “any ICD 10 disorder”. Conclusion. These findings are a useful guide to the probable prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in primary care in Nigeria and in the design of appropriate interventions. 1. Introduction The majority of individuals with psychiatric morbidity in the community are usually seen at the primary care level [1–5], with prevalence rates ranging from 16 to 43% of general practice users [1, 6–8]. In different countries of the world, the prevalence of mental disorders in primary care settings has been extensively researched and, in adults, ranges between 10% and 60% [8, 9]. The most prevalent mental disorders presenting in primary care settings are depression, 5% to 20% [10], generalized anxiety disorder, 4% to 15% [11], harmful alcohol use and dependence, 5% to 15% [12], and somatization disorders, 5% to 11% [13]. Studies of children and adolescents have also demonstrated a high prevalence of mental disorders in primary care settings. For example, about 20% of children and adolescent were found to have mental health problems in Ibadan, Nigeria [14], 30% of children aged 6 to 11 years in Valencia, Spain [15], and 43% of children aged 6 to 18 years in United Arab Emirates [16]. The prevalence of mental disorders could be as high as 33% in the elderly age group, seen in primary care [17, 18]. The commonest diagnoses are depression and dementia [19]. Several studies in primary care facilities have measured the prevalence of other specific mental disorders, due to their public health importance. The prevalence of postnatal depression was 14% in Turkey [20] and 19% in Nigeria [21]. Despite this high prevalence, primary care practitioners have difficulties in detecting about one-third of those with mental health problems [4, 22, 23]. This can be adduced to a number of reasons,
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