Age of onset and cumulative risk of mental disorders: a concise update

Overview

This presentation will present recent data on the age of onset for mental disorders, based on the World Mental Health Survey (29 countries, 156,331 respondents). The lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder was 28·6% (95% CI 27·9-29·2) for male respondents and 29·8% (29·2-30·3) for female respondents. Morbid risk of any mental disorder by age 75 years was 46·4% (44·9-47·8) for male respondents and 53·1% (51·9-54·3) for female respondents. Conditional probabilities of first onset peaked at approximately age 15 years, with a median age of onset of 19 years (IQR 14-32) for male respondents and 20 years (12-36) for female respondents. By age 75 years, approximately half the population can expect to develop one or more of the 13 mental disorders considered in this study. These disorders typically first emerge in childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood.

Speakers

Chair: Professor Stephen Lawrie, Congress Co-Chair

Professor John J. McGrath, Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, and National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University