Sociological Study of Mental Disorders in HCMC (Vietnam)

The focus of this study is on the prevalence of mental disorders among the people aged between 18-64 years who are living in Saigon (HCMC), and an analysis of the sociological factors that affect the spread of these disorders. The theoretical framework of this research is a synthesis of the sociological theory of Anomie of Durkheim and the Strain theory of Merton. To determine the prevalence of mental disorders, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) is used, and to determine their effective sociological parameters we prepared a second Questionnaire, the sociological one, comprising questions derived from Durkheim and Merton's theories. The sample size was 384, using Cochran formula, and sampling was a multi-stage cluster sampling. The results from the analyses of the data showed that the overall prevalence of mental disorder in Saigon is 10.2%: in men 5.5% and in women 12.8%. Moreover, the components of immigration, job status, social status, structural and social pressures, family problems, and social capital, were shown to contribute to the risk of mental health and the occurrence of mental disorders. The sociological factors which were not confirmed were religion and ethnicity.