Abstract
Background: Anxiety disorder is one of the common mental disorders emerging in the current world. Among all type of anxiety disorder the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder is around 1-5% among Indian population. In the valley of Kashmir very little data is available in literature regarding this issue. Our study aimed to contribute on the baseline data regarding generalized anxiety disorder in Kashmir.
Objective: To find out the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder among the patients attending general OPD in a peripheral health center of district Srinagar block hazaratbal.
Methods: The study was conducted under the department of Community Medicine GMC Srinagar. All patients attending general OPD were included in the study with the exclusion of the patients who were critically ill and needed immediate referral; patients with acute severe trauma, patients with age less than 18 years were also excluded from the study. The study was conducted for 2 months. After selection of each patient, presence of generalized anxiety disorder was assessed by using the DSM V criteria, GAD 7 scale was used to assess the severity of disorder.
Results: A total of 1553 patients were assessed for generalized anxiety disorder. Among them, 15 patients were found having generalized anxiety disorder according to DSM 5 giving the prevalence of around 0.96%.Among these,86% were females. About two third patients belonged to class II socioeconomic status according to modified Kuppasuami scale.
Conclusion: Prevalence of GAD in this urban population is approximately close to the prevalence at the national level. This study points to the need for proper assessment of patients at each peripheral health center to diagnose such patients at earlier severity of the disorder so to prevent social economical and physical deterioration of such patients.
Key Words: Anxiety, Mental Disorders, Prevalence, Kashmir.
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Corresponding Author
Taha Ayub
Senior Resident, Department of Community Medicine,
Government Medical College, Srinagar
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i8.82
