Analyzing psychiatric disorders from rural primary health centers: A clinical epidemiological study from a District of South India

Introduction: The clinical interview (CI) based diagnosis has more validity than the structured interview schedules based diagnosis. Hence, the epidemiological studies by clinician's evaluation would be more valuable. To date, there is no clinical epidemiological studies by psychiatrists' CIs of the primary care patients in India, especially for substance use and psychotic disorders. Objectives: To understand the prevalence of selected psychiatric disorders among patients of primary health centers (PHCs) based on the psychiatrist's CI. Materials and Methods: Data collected from a file review of Telepsychiatric On-Consultation Training program (2016–2018) in which 73 in-service primary care doctors are trained in live general consultation of rural PHCs of Mandya district, Karnataka, India. Results: Prevalence of the psychiatric disorders among adult primary care patients was 47.5%. The common mental disorders (CMDs) (35.2%) were most common among them, followed by substance use (9.5%) and psychotic disorders (2.6%). Discussion: This is the first clinical epidemiological study from Indian rural primary health care based on a psychiatrist's CI. Nearly half of the primary care patients were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. This study demonstrated the feasibility of conducting such epidemiological studies with available time and resources. This study reported a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders in rural PHCs.