Sociodemographic and health-related correlates of psychiatric distress in a general population

Background Measuring factors related to psychiatric distress in public health surveys helps to identify groups at risk for developing psychiatric morbidity. Aims The aim of this study was to determine which socio-demographic and health-related factors are associated with psychiatric distress in the general population. Method Data were from the Catalan Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a cross-sectional survey of 15000 members of the general population of Catalonia, Spain. The association between scores on the General Health Questionnaire-12 and socio-demographic and healthrelated variables was analyzed using logistic regression. Results Several socio-demographic and health-related variables were significantly associated with increased psychiatric distress.The factor most consistently related to psychiatric distress was the presence of one or more chronic physical conditions.The number rather than the type of declared chronic conditions was the most important factor,with the odds ratios (OR) for presence of psychiatric distress ranging from 1.1 [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.0-1.4] for one declared chronic condition to 5.6 (95% CI=4.2-7.4) in persons with over five chronic conditions. Other significant related variables varied by age and gender. Conclusions The number of declared chronic physical conditions appears to be a relevant correlate of the presence of psychiatric distress, independently of other factors, including the type of chronic condition.