Investigation On General Mental Health Status And Its Influencing Factors Among Adults In Jilin Province

ObjectivesTo describe the general mental health status and its distribution characteristicsamong adults in Jilin province, to investigate the influencing factors of mental healthfrom the aspects of physiology, society, individual behavior and lifestyle, and then toprovide epidemiological data on community mental health and references on policiesand measures for the health decision-making departrment of Jilin province.MethodsIn July to August of2012,23050adults aged from18to79in Jilin provincewere surveyed by the method of multi-stage and stratified random cluster sampling.The adults with informed consent were questionnaired face-to-face by trainedinterviewers. The12-items general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used toevaluate1-month general mental health status of adults with4point as a cut-off point.EpiData3.1was used for data entry and SPSS21.0statistical software was for dataprocessing and analysis. The general demographic characteristics were analyzeddescriptively; the positive rate was used to show mental health status of differentpopulation; and the influencing factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariateLogistic regression analysis. The distribution characteristics of GHQ positive ratesand analysis of influencing factors were by being complex weighted and allchi-square values were Rao-Scott chi-square based on sampling design correction.Results1. A total of21435valid samples were completed in this study. There were10337men (48.2%) and11098women (51.8%). The adults surveyed were aged from18to79, and the average age was47.07±13.41.11152of adults were urban residentsaccounting for52.0%, and10283of adults were rural residents accounting for48.0%.2. The average score of GHQ-12ranged from0to12points in this study was2.27±2.11. The positive rate of GHQ-12(≥4points) was23.8%among adults in Jilin province. There were41.3%persons feeling unhappy or depressed in the last month.3. There were statistically significant deferences (P<0.001) in the positive rate ofGHQ-12among adults in Jilin province between different groups in gender, age, area,education, marriage, occupation and monthly average income. The GHQ-12positiverate of27.9%in female was higher than20.0%in male;22.2%in urban residents waslower than25.9%in rural residents;28.0%in adults aged from18to24was higherthan that in other age groups;29.6%in adults of primary school and below was thehighest among education groups;30.5%in divorced and32.2%in widowedpopulation were higher than that in other marriage groups;28.5%in farmers and30.8%in students or unemployment were higher than that in other occupation groups;31.3%in adults with montly average income per family below500yuan was higherthan that in other income groups.4. Influencing factor analysis showed that female, marriage situation as divorcedor widowed, occupation as farmers, students or unemployment, the average dailysleep time less than7h, having chronic diseases in the last year, and having familyhistories of circulatory system disease or cancer were the risk factors of mental health,OR and OR95%CI values as follows:1.497(1.372-1.633),1.404(1.092-1.805),1.325(1.123-1.563),1.330(1.128-1.568),1.315(1.099-1.572),1.384(1.268-1.510),1.606(1.464-1.761),1.318(1.212-1.433),1.240(1.108-1.387); and that the protectivefactors were higher age group, higher monthly average income per family, regulardietary and physical exercise, as follows:35~44years old (OR=0.733,95%CI=0.580-0.928),45~54years old (OR=0.611,95%CI=0.481-0.777),55~64years old (OR=0.604,95%CI=0.469-0.778),65~79years old (OR=0.735,95%CI=0.556-0.973),500~1000yuan (OR=0.805,95%CI=0.712-0.909),1000~2000yuan (OR=0.750,95%CI=0.662-0.850),2000~3000yuan (OR=0.716,95%CI=0.612-0.837),3000yuan above (OR=0.735,95%CI=0.614-0.880), regulardietary (OR=0.580,95%CI=0.525-0.642), frequently eating fresh vegetables(OR=0.729,95%CI=0.639-0.830), fresh fruits (OR=0.680,95%CI=0.623-0.743),aqueatic products (OR=0.834,95%CI=0.722-0.963), eggs and bean products(OR=0.868,95%CI=0.798-0.945), and physical exercises sometimes (OR=0.891,95%CI=0.798-0.994) or often (OR=0.708,95%CI=0.635-0.789).Conclusions1. The GHQ-12positive rate of general mental health among adults in Jilin province is23.8%, higher than those in most of the provinces in China.2. Female, farmers, students, unemployed persons, lower education persons,divorced or widowed persons, and lower income persons are the high risk populationof mental health in Jilin province.3. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis show that the risk factors ofmental health may be female, marriage situation as divorced or widowed, occupationas farmers, students or unemployment, the average daily sleep time less than7h,having chronic diseases within1year, and having family histories of circulatorysystem disease or cancer; and that the age over35years old, average income perfamily over500yuan monthly, regular dietary, frequently eating fresh vegetables,fresh fruits, aqueatic products, eggs and bean products, and physical exercises may bethe protective factors of mental health.4. A healthy body condition, good living habits, good ability to emotionalself-regulation, and a positive and optimistic attitude should be advocated to maintainnormal state of mental health. Besides, the government should carry out targetedmental health promotion such as health literacy and mental health education.