ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL DISORDER, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND URBAN ENVIRONMENT IN IMO STATE SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of mental disorders among the participants living in the urban areas and those living in the rural areas and to determine if socioeconomic status affects the prevalence of mental disorders in Imo State South East Nigeria. Study design: It was a community based cross sectional study Place and duration of study: conducted from January 1st to March, 31st 2022 among adults in Imo State South East Nigeria. Methodology: A multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 1012 subjects from the study area. Nine mental disorders: depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, substance use, mania, sleeping disorders, psychosis, suicidal ideation and dissociation were assessed using self or informant-rated measures, the DSM-5 Level 1 and 2 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measures. The collected data were analysed using SPSS version 25.0. Descriptive method was used to summarize the data demographic characteristics while the prevalence of the different mental disorders was examined and presented in form of frequency and percentages. Results: Out of the 1012 participants initially selected, 974(96.2%) completed the study, 584(57.7%) from the urban area and 390 (38.5%) from the rural area. One hundred and three (26.4%) and 368 (63.0%) participants screened positive for mental disorder from the rural and urban areas respectively. The difference in the prevalence of Mental Disorders in the urban and rural areas was highly significant (P <0.001). The socioeconomic statuses of the participants were measured with their type of occupation, highest level of education and average monthly income. In all, there were significant associations between mental disorders and type of Occupation (P=0.002), Highest level of education (P<0.001) and Average Monthly income (P<0.001). Conclusion: Mental disorder affects those in the urban areas more than those in the rural areas. Socioeconomic status was found to be strongly associated with mental disorders among the studied group.