Prevalence of Mental Disorder among the Client Visiting Outpatient Department in Karnali Academy of Health Science

Introduction: Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities. So the study was carried out to find the pattern of mental disorders of OPD patients in Karnali academy of health science. Method: This was a retrospective study conducted among the patients attending for OPD check up in Karnali Academy of Health Science (KAHS) in the department of psychiatric. The study was done from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020. Only mental disorders were included. Data were collected from the register of psychiatric OPD which were maintained in the medical department. Total number of sample taken was 944 in first year and 1685 in second year that is 2629 of all age group. Result: A total of 2629 mental disorder cases reported in Karnali Academy of health Science. 578 (61.22%) were females and 366 (38.77%) were males in first year and 1009 (40.11%) were females and 676 (59.89%) were males in the second year. Mental disorder was more among females than in male in both years. Most commonly occurred mental disorder was anxiety, depression, somatoform disorder, alcohol dependence disorder, bipolar affective mood disorder and psychosis. Of all the cases, most of commonly occurring case was mood disorders. Conclusion: Mental illness is seen in increasing trend so that the existing health service facilities must be given attention and priorities. More study is needed to find the contributing factors of mental illness among the female community. Attention and care will be the solution for improving the condition of the mental disorders. These findings can be utilized for planning the National Mental Health programme.