Prevalence of mental disorders in an rural community in Northern Benin: A door-to-door survey

Background. - The burden of mental disorders is high in sub-Saharan Africa but the reliable epidemiological data for its prevalence are too scarce in this setting. We aimed to determine the prevalence of major mental disorder in a rural community in northern Benin. Methods. - It was a cross-sectional study with a door-to-door survey and included all people aged more than 18 years in the Tourou rural community in northern Benin. The face-to-face interview were done with respect the confidentiality. The French version of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used for the screening of mental disorders. The data were analyzed by using EPI-INFO 7.1 software. The prevalence of each disorders were determined and their 95% confidence interval. Results. - A total of 603 subjects were included, including 62.23% of men and 18 to 77 years old with an average of 27.29 years +/- 9.24 years. Among them, 327 subjects had at least one mental disorder with an overall prevalence of 54.22% [95% CI: 41.56-69.14]. The prevalences of the major mental disorders were for the current major depressive episode (MDE) 32.34% [28.65-36.26%]; past MDE 11.61% [9.22-14.50%]; current social phobia 14.26% [11.62-17.37%]; Current Obsessive Compulsive Disorders 20.73% [17.61-24.23%]; generalized anxiety 9.62% [7.44-12.33%]; psychotic syndrome whole life 30.18% [26.57-34.05%]; antisocial personality disorders 5.47% [7.44-12.33%]; alcohol dependence 3.98% and drug dependence 1.33%. Conclusion. - These findings suggest an increased incidence of mental illness in rural community in northern Benin and calls for urgent prevention and community care. (C) 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.