Assessment of help seeking behavior for common mental disorders among residents of Jimma town: South West Ethiopia

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Habtamu Kerebih

Jimma University, Ethiopia

: J Trauma Stress Disor

Abstract

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Common mental disorders such as anxiety, depression and unexplained somatic symptoms and substance use disorders such as alcohol, khat and cigarette contributes to disability and distress to the population impeding productivity and affecting societal wellbeing. Recognizing this, the current study was conducted to be one input for policy maker’s efforts in reforming mental health care among the community in our country. This study assessed help seeking behavior for common mental disorders among residents of Jimma town, March, 2015 Community based cross sectional study was conducted in March, 2015 in Jimma town using interviewer administered structured questionnaire. A total of 745 residents were selected using multi stage probability sampling technique. Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) was used to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders. The mental help seeking behaviors was assessed using Actual Help Seeking Questionnaire (AHSQ). Data was analyzed with SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression analysis was used for both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Strength of association of the variables was determined using odds ratio and 95% confidence level. From a total of 745 respondents, 729 completed the study from which 380(52.1%) were females. The prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) was 41.4%. variables such as older age, being female, student, unemployed, housewife, divorced and separated, having gross monthly income >3000birr, chewing khat and having chronic physical illness were significantly associated with CMD. Regarding help seeking behavior among CMD cases only 47.4% seek-help. The majority of them (84%) seek help from informal sources. Variables such as being female, married, student, gross monthly income >3000birr, having strong social support, presence of chronic physical illnesses and previous history of seeking any form of help were significantly associated with seeking help for current CMD. There is a high prevalence of common mental disorders among the community and yet their help seeking behavior for common mental disorders was minimal. From the consulted sources most constituent informal sources indicating the need to have health promotion among the community regarding formal help sources. common mental disorder, help seeking behavior, mental illness

Biography

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Email: habtishk@gmail.com