Prevalence of Common Mental Disorders at a General Health Clinic in a Corporate Hospital

Abstract

Western studies show there is a high proportion of somatization of psychiatric disorders among presenters in medical outpatients. Many of these patients go through unnecessary investigations and remain undiagnosed for a significant length of time. These not only add to the suffering of the patients, but also lead to wastage of important resources and manpower. Similar studies have not been replicated in Indian corporate hospital set up using validated questionnaires. In fact, there is dearth of well organized integrated mental health units in corporate hospital setting in India.