"I don't need any treatment" - barriers to mental health treatment in the general population of a megacity.

OBJECTIVE: Most countries fail to treat individuals with psychopathologies. Investigating treatment barriers and reasons for dropout are key elements to overcoming this scenario. METHODS: A representative sample of 2,942 urban-dwelling adults was interviewed face-to-face within a cross-sectional, stratified, multistage probability survey of the general population. Psychiatric diagnosis, severity level, use of services, reasons for not seeking treatment, and treatment dropout were investigated. RESULTS: Only 23% of individuals with a psychopathology of any severity level in the last 12 months received treatment. Low perceived need for treatment (56%) was the most common reason for not seeking treatment. The most visited settings were psychiatric, other mental health care, and general medical care. Among those with a perceived need for treatment (44%), psychological barriers were the most common reason for not seeking it. Treatment dropout was more prevalent among those who visited a general medical care setting. Among individuals still in treatment, human services and psychiatric care were the most common types. Female sex was associated with structural barriers (OR = 2.1). Disorder severity was negatively associated with need barriers (OR = 0.4), and positively associated with structural barriers (OR = 2.5) and psychological barriers (OR = 2.5). CONCLUSION: Despite the need for treatment and better services, psychological barriers were the major reason for not seeking treatment. Apart from providing more specialists, investing in awareness, de-stigmatization, and information is the ultimate strategy for improving psychiatric care.

Multilevel Analysis of the Patterns of Physical-Mental Multimorbidity in General Population of São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil.

Chronic diseases are often comorbid and present a weighty burden for communities in the 21st century. The present investigation depicted patterns of multimorbidity in the general population and examined its association with the individual- and area-level factors in an urban sample of non-elderly adults of Brazil. Data were from the cross-sectional São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey, a stratified multistage area probability sampling investigation. Trained interviewers assessed mental morbidities and asked about physical conditions for 1,571 community-dwelling women and 1,142 men, aged between 18 and 64 years. Principal component analysis depicted patterns of physical-mental multimorbidity, by sex. Following, the patterns of multimorbidity were subjected to multilevel regression analysis, taking into account individual- and area-level variables. Three patterns of clustering were found for women: 'irritable mood and headache', 'chronic diseases and pain', and 'substance use disorders'. Among men, the patterns were: 'chronic pain and respiratory disease', 'psychiatric disorders', and 'chronic diseases'. Multilevel analyses showed associations between multimorbidity patterns and both individual- and area-level determinants. Our findings call for a reformulation of health-care systems worldwide, especially in low-resource countries. Replacing the single-disease framework by multi-disease patterns in health-care settings can improve the ability of general practitioners in the health-care of person-centred needs.

Gender-related dimensions of childhood adversities in the general population

Objective: Childhood adversities (CAs) comprise a group of negative experiences individuals may suffer in their lifetimes. The goal of the present study was to investigate the cluster discrimination of CAs through psychometric determination of the common attributes of such experiences for men and women. Methods: Parental mental illness, substance misuse, criminality, death, divorce, other parental loss, family violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, physical illness, and economic adversity were assessed in a general-population sample (n=5,037). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis determined gender-related dimensions of CA. The contribution of each individual adversity was explored through Rasch analysis. Results: Adversities were reported by 53.6% of the sample. A three-factor model of CA dimensions fit the data better for men, and a two-factor model for women. For both genders, the dimension of family maladjustment - encompassing physical abuse, neglect, parental mental disorders, and family violence - was the core cluster of CAs. Women endorsed more CAs than men. Rasch analysis found that sexual abuse, physical illness, parental criminal behavior, parental divorce, and economic adversity were difficult to report in face-to-face interviews. Conclusion: CAs embrace sensitive personal information, clustering of which differed by gender. Acknowledging CAs may have an impact on medical and psychiatric outcomes in adulthood.

Gender-related dimensions of childhood adversities in the general population.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood adversities (CAs) comprise a group of negative experiences individuals may suffer in their lifetimes. The goal of the present study was to investigate the cluster discrimination of CAs through psychometric determination of the common attributes of such experiences for men and women. METHODS: Parental mental illness, substance misuse, criminality, death, divorce, other parental loss, family violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, physical illness, and economic adversity were assessed in a general-population sample (n=5,037). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis determined gender-related dimensions of CA. The contribution of each individual adversity was explored through Rasch analysis. RESULTS: Adversities were reported by 53.6% of the sample. A three-factor model of CA dimensions fit the data better for men, and a two-factor model for women. For both genders, the dimension of family maladjustment - encompassing physical abuse, neglect, parental mental disorders, and family violence - was the core cluster of CAs. Women endorsed more CAs than men. Rasch analysis found that sexual abuse, physical illness, parental criminal behavior, parental divorce, and economic adversity were difficult to report in face-to-face interviews. CONCLUSION: CAs embrace sensitive personal information, clustering of which differed by gender. Acknowledging CAs may have an impact on medical and psychiatric outcomes in adulthood.