Study of mental health disorders in primary health care centers in Cordoba, argentina

Resumen

Given that mental healthcare in Latin America is
going through a special transformation, changing
the hospital attention towards the community assistance
(1), it is essential to know the profile of new
potential users.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/
WHO) analyzed the situation regarding the attention
given to mental health in the region of the
Americas identifying that the progress in the provision
of services in mental health is not enough (2).
In most of the countries there are psychiatric hospitals
considered as the basic structure of the mental
health system. Chile, Brazil and Cuba are the
exceptions. According the PAHO/WHO report, 1 out
of 4 people suffers some kind of mental disorders
at some stage in their life and, in the next 20 years,
mental health disorders will be the second cause in
the global burden of disease (2-4).
Prevalence studies in the Primary Health Care centers
show high levels of mental and behavioral disorders
(5).
Similar studies highlight the need of prioritizing mental
health as an issue to resolve with a perspective
of mental health depending on the social and economic
importance of this problem (6-9). The detection
and treatment of mental health and behavioral
disorders in the Primary Health Care could also
improve the access to care among many patients.
Thus, from this perspective, it is indispensable to
know the prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders
since the health services must establish their
priorities according to the local needs and conditions...