Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-hprfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-03-26T11:43:47.226Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Undertreatment of people with major depressive disorder in 21 countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Graham Thornicroft*
Affiliation:
Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
Somnath Chatterji
Affiliation:
Department of Information, Evidence and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Sara Evans-Lacko
Affiliation:
Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
Michael Gruber
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Nancy Sampson
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola
Affiliation:
Center for Reduction in Health Disparities, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California, USA
Ali Al-Hamzawi
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, Al-Qadisia University, Diwania governorate, Iraq
Jordi Alonso
Affiliation:
Health Services Research Unit, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; and CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
Laura Andrade
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatric Epidemiology, LIM-23, Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Guilherme Borges
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria, Calzada Mexico Xochimilco No 101, Colonia San Lorenzo Huipulco, Mexico
Ronny Bruffaerts
Affiliation:
Psychiatrisch Centrum – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (UPC-KUL), Campus Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium
Brendan Bunting
Affiliation:
Ulster University, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK
Jose Miguel Caldas de Almeida
Affiliation:
CEDOC and Department of Mental Health, Nova Medical School/Faculdade Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Silvia Florescu
Affiliation:
National School of Public Health, Management and Professional Development, Bucharest, Romania
Giovanni de Girolamo
Affiliation:
IRCCS St John of God Clinical Research Centre/IRCCS Centro S. Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
Oye Gureje
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
Josep Maria Haro
Affiliation:
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, CIBERSAM, Sant Boi de Llobregat (Barcelona), Spain
Yanling He
Affiliation:
Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
Hristo Hinkov
Affiliation:
National Center for Public Health and Analyses, Sofia, Bulgaria
Elie Karam
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Balamand University, Beirut, Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, St George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, and Institute for Development Research Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), Beirut, Lebanon
Norito Kawakami
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Sing Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong
Fernando Navarro-Mateu
Affiliation:
IMIB-Arrixaca, CIBERESP-Murcia, Subdirección General de Salud Mental y Asistencia Psiquiátrica, Servicio Murciano de Salud, El Palmar, Murcia, Spain
Marina Piazza
Affiliation:
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Lima, Peru
Jose Posada-Villa
Affiliation:
Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Bogota, Colombia
Yolanda Torres de Galvis
Affiliation:
CES University', Center for Excellence on Research in Mental Health, CES University, Medellin, Colombia
Ronald C. Kessler
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
*
Graham Thornicroft, King's College London, HSR Department – Box PO29, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Email: graham.thornicroft@kcl.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide.

Aims

To examine the: (a) 12-month prevalence of DSM-IV MDD; (b) proportion aware that they have a problem needing treatment and who want care; (c) proportion of the latter receiving treatment; and (d) proportion of such treatment meeting minimal standards.

Method

Representative community household surveys from 21 countries as part of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys.

Results

Of 51 547 respondents, 4.6% met 12-month criteria for DSM-IV MDD and of these 56.7% reported needing treatment. Among those who recognised their need for treatment, most (71.1%) made at least one visit to a service provider. Among those who received treatment, only 41.0% received treatment that met minimal standards. This resulted in only 16.5% of all individuals with 12-month MDD receiving minimally adequate treatment.

Conclusions

Only a minority of participants with MDD received minimally adequate treatment: 1 in 5 people in high-income and 1 in 27 in low-/lower-middle-income countries. Scaling up care for MDD requires fundamental transformations in community education and outreach, supply of treatment and quality of services.

Information

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017 
Figure 0

Table 1 Twelve-month prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD), perceived need for treatment, receipt of any treatment and receipt of minimally adequate treatment

Supplementary material: PDF

Thornicroft et al. supplementary material

Supplementary Table S1

Download Thornicroft et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 36.7 KB

This journal is not currently accepting new eletters.

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.