Epidemiological  Data  
Paper  B   Syllabic  content  7.x  
 
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 According  to  ESEMED  epidemiological  study  1  in  4  adults  has  lifetime  presence  of  a  mental  
disorder   and   1  in  10  has  a  mental  disorder  in  last  1  year.     14.7%  had  a  lifetime  history  of  
mood  disorder  (major  depression  only  –  13%)  while  14%  had  anxiety  (specific  phobia  only  –  
8%),  and  5.2%  had  lifetime  alcohol  use  disorder.    

 
Disorders  with  higher  female  preponderance  
  Disease     Ratio     Higher  in    
Social  phobia  (May  be  equal  in  those  seeking   1.2:1         Females  
  treatment)  
Bipolar  disorder  type  2   1.3:1         Females  
  Avoidant  personality   1.5:1         Females  
Dependent  personality   1.5:1         Females  
  OCD  (May  be  equal  in  those  seeking  treatment)   1.5:1         Females  

 
Histrionic  personality   1.8:1         Females  
  Alzheimer’s  disease  (prevalence  rates  2:1.   2:1         Females  
Incidence  may  be  equal.  More  female  
  representation  may  be  due  to  longevity  of  lives  
in  women).  
  Dysthymia   2:1         Females  
Generalised  anxiety  disorder   2:1         Females  
  Major  depression  (this  is  post-­‐‑puberty   2:1         Females  
prevalence  rates;  before  puberty,  boys  
  marginally  >  girls)  
Multiple  Sclerosis   2:1         Females  
  PTSD   2:1         Females  
Somatization  disorder   2:1         Females  
  Conversion  disorder   2-­‐‑10:1         Females  
Panic  disorder   2-­‐‑2.5:1         Females  
 
Agoraphobia   3:1     Females  
Borderline  personality   3:1   Females  
 
Specific  phobias   3:1         Females  
  Nightmares   2-­‐‑4:1   Females  
Dissociative  disorders   4:1         Females  
  Bulimia  nervosa  (refer  Kaplan  &  Sadock  CTP  –   10:1   Females  
quotes  new  estimates  3:1)  
  Anorexia  nervosa   10:1         Females  

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Disorders  with  higher  male  preponderance  
 
Disease     Ratio     Higher  in    
  Lewy  body  dementia   1.2:1         Males  
Paranoid  personality  disorder   1.3:1         Males  
  Schizophrenia  (Saha  et  al  PLoSMed  2004)   1.4:1         Males  
incidence  rates  only.  Prevalence  is  equal.  
  Parkinson’s  disease   1.5:1         Males  
Conduct  Disorder         Males  
  ADHD   3:1   Males  
Alcohol  dependence   5:1         Males  
  Korsakoff’s  psychosis   2:1         Males  
Autism   3:1         Males  
 
Asperger’s  syndrome     4:1         Males  
Wing  1981  =  10:1    
 
Antisocial  personality  disorder   5:1         Males  
Tourette’s  syndrome   4:1   Males  
 

 
Disorders  with  equal  sex  distribution  
  Disease     Ratio     Higher  in    
Anankastic  (OCP)  personality   1:1   Neither    
  Frontal  Lobe  Dementia   1:1   Neither    
Huntington’s  disease   1:1     Neither    
  (AD  inheritance)  
Schizoid  personality  disorder   1:1   Neither    
  Wilson’s  disease  (puzzling  3:1  female   1:1   Neither    
preponderance  seen  for  acute  liver  failure)  
   
Bipolar  disorder  type  1   1:1         Neither    
 

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 Point estimates  

  Point  or  1  year   Lifetime   Incidence   Lifetime   All  cause  

Prevalence     prevalence   risk   mortality  
Panic  disorder   0.9%   4.7%       1.9  

Social  phobia   2.8%          

Simple  phobia   4.8%   7-­‐‑11%        

Major  depressive   5.3%         1.7  
disorder  

Agoraphobia   1.1%   0.8%        

PTSD   1%   8%        

OCD   1.0%   2.5%       1.1  

Personality   1.8%         4.0  

disorders  
Schizophrenia(1)   0.33%  (1  yr),   0.4%   15.2  per   0.72%   2.6  
0.46%  (point)   100,000  
Bipolar  disorder   0.6%   1.5%       2.6  

Dementia  (>65)   5.4%         2.7  

Anorexia   0.37%   1.2-­‐‑2.2%   4.7-­‐‑8.3  per     10  

100,000  
Bulimia   1.5%          

Somatoform   5%*          
disorders  
Delusional   0.03%     0.7-­‐‑1.3  per      
disorders   100,000  
           

¬ All  values  are  in  medians;  Mortality  expressed  as  SMR.  Empty  cells  reflect  inconclusive  data  

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 DISCLAIMER: This material is developed from various revision notes assembled while preparing
for MRCPsych exams. The content is periodically updated with excerpts from various published
sources including peer-reviewed journals, websites, patient information leaflets and books.
These sources are cited and acknowledged wherever possible; due to the structure of this
material, acknowledgements have not been possible for every passage/fact that is common
knowledge in psychiatry. We do not check the accuracy of drug-related information using
external sources; no part of these notes should be used as prescribing information  

Tables  prepared  using  data  from  

! Eaton  WW,  et  al.  The  Burden  of  Mental  Disorders  Epidemiol  Rev  2008;30:1–14  
! European  data  only;  (1)  Scz  data  from  McGrath  et  al.2005.  
! ECA  data  
! Gelder  et  al.,  Shorter  Oxford  textbook  of  psychiatry  
! Also  see  table  24.2  page  651  of  Gelder  et  al.,  Shorter  Oxford  textbook  of  psychiatry    –  for  childhood  
disorders.  
! Narrow,WE  et  al  (eds).  Age  and  Gender  Considerations  in  Psychiatric  Diagnosis:  A  Research  
Agenda  for  DSM-­‐‑V.  American  Psychiatric  Press,  2007  
! Psychol  Med.  1998  Jan;28(1):51  

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