TY - JOUR
T1 - Common mental disorders and the built environment in Santiago, Chile
AU - Araya, Ricardo
AU - Montgomery, Alan
AU - Rojas, Graciela
AU - Fritsch, Rosemarie
AU - Solis, Jaime
AU - Signorelli, Andres
AU - Lewis, Glyn
PY - 2007/5
Y1 - 2007/5
N2 - Background: There is growing research interest in the influence of the built environment on mental disorders. Aims: To estimate the variation in the prevalence of common mental disorders attributable to individuals and the built environment of geographical sectors where they live. Method: A sample of 3870 adults (response rate 90%) clustered in 248 geographical sectors participated in a household cross-sectional survey in Santiago, Chile. Independently rated contextual measures of the built environment were obtained. The Clinical Interview Schedule was used to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders. Results: There was a significant association between the quality of the built environment of small geographical sectors and the presence of common mental disorders among its residents. The better the quality of the built environment, the lower the scores for psychiatric symptoms; however, only a small proportion of the variation in common mental disorder existed at sector level, after adjusting for individual factors. Conclusions: Findings from our study, using a contextual assessment of the quality of the built environment and multilevel modelling in the analysis, suggest these associations may be more marked in non-Western settings with more homogeneous geographical sectors.
AB - Background: There is growing research interest in the influence of the built environment on mental disorders. Aims: To estimate the variation in the prevalence of common mental disorders attributable to individuals and the built environment of geographical sectors where they live. Method: A sample of 3870 adults (response rate 90%) clustered in 248 geographical sectors participated in a household cross-sectional survey in Santiago, Chile. Independently rated contextual measures of the built environment were obtained. The Clinical Interview Schedule was used to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders. Results: There was a significant association between the quality of the built environment of small geographical sectors and the presence of common mental disorders among its residents. The better the quality of the built environment, the lower the scores for psychiatric symptoms; however, only a small proportion of the variation in common mental disorder existed at sector level, after adjusting for individual factors. Conclusions: Findings from our study, using a contextual assessment of the quality of the built environment and multilevel modelling in the analysis, suggest these associations may be more marked in non-Western settings with more homogeneous geographical sectors.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34248195107&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.024596
DO - 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.024596
M3 - Article
C2 - 17470953
AN - SCOPUS:34248195107
VL - 190
SP - 394
EP - 401
JO - British Journal of Psychiatry
JF - British Journal of Psychiatry
SN - 0007-1250
IS - MAY
ER -