[Prevalence of mental disorders in the metropolitan area of the Republic of Argentina].

The survey was carried out during 1979 (September-December). The sample covered the whole Federal District and the nineteen counties of the Greater Buenos Aires with a population of 9.908.001 persons; 18.61% in F. D. and 10,24% en G.B.A. refused to answer; 3411 were interviewed. The responses to the Present State Examination (PSE) were used for case-finding. The PSE is a semistructured interview that has been extensively tested with inpatients and outpatients. It has a technique for case-defining: the index of Definition (I.D.). A set of rules were developed to allocate the profile of symptoms present in the PSE (ninth edition) to one of the eight levels of definition. The rules were incorporated in a computer program called Catego. The prevalence of cases, as defined in the study, is 26% (ID 5-8) (30.8% in the feminine population and 20.3% in the masculine). If the threshold level (5) is excluded, the rate is 10,2%. (6,9% among males and 11,9% among females). The diagnosis derived from the Catego Program, fitted descriptively with the International Classification of Diseases (chapter 5) show the 13% of the population with neurotic perturbations, specially of depressive type, 6% with affective psychosis, 4% of schizophrenic psychosis and 1,3% of paranoic states. The major associations of prevalence rates are with sex and socioeconomic level. There is a preponderance of women with high Index of Definition. Future studies must prove the relationships between disorders and sex. We think that the interdependence of being married, children at home below 14 years, having no employment, can explain the high rates in the female population. The highest levels of the Index of Definition are associated with the lowest socioeconomic levels. The analysis of data presented here suggests more detailed studies, specially on the aetiology of depression and on the relationship between women and mental disorders.