The National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of Pakistan (2022): Prevalence, socio-demographic and disability correlates

Background National psychiatric morbidity surveys have shown a wide range of prevalence of psychiatric disorders across different countries. Pakistan with its sociocultural and ethnic diversity, has the fifth largest population in the world. There was no prior high-quality nationally representative data on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and their socio-demographic correlates for Pakistan. To fill this gap in the planning of mental health services, the Pakistan Psychiatric Society conducted the National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (NPMS) of Pakistan, in the years 2019-2022. Aim To estimate the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychiatric morbidity in a representative sample of Pakistan. Methods The cross-sectional NPMS collected data from the four provinces of Pakistan. After selection through a three-stage, stratified, random cluster sampling technique we interviewed 17,773 adults above the age of 18. We used the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI Version 7.0.2) to evaluate psychiatric morbidity. Current and lifetime precise and weighted prevalence is reported according to ICD-10 (International Classification of Disease-10 th version). We used multivariate logistic regression to investigate the association between the risk of psychiatric illness and sociodemographic variables. National Bio-ethic Committee of Pakistan granted approval of survey. Results The lifetime and current weighted prevalence of all psychiatric disorder is 37.91% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) =37.22-38.59) and 32.28% (95% CI=31.62-32.94) respectively. The weighted prevalence of common psychiatric disorders in Pakistan included Mood Disorders (F30-F39; 19.62%), Neurotic and Stress-related Disorders (F40 F48; 24.81%), Psychotic Disorders (F20-F29; 4.52%) and Mental and Behavioural Problems due to Psychoactive Substance use (F10-F19; 0.85%). The psychiatric disorders had an association with age, female gender, urban living, lower income and being divorced. Among participants, 6.17% acknowledged suicidality in the past month, while 1.05% acknowledged a lifetime suicide attempt. Conclusion The NPMS is the first nationally representative study of psychiatric morbidities in Pakistan. The data from this survey can be utilized for designing and implementing mental health services and support programmes in the country.