Prevalence of anxiety disorders included in The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) among the general population of Latvia in 2019-2020

Background: Anxiety disorders compose the group of most common mental disorders and are associated with significant long-term disability [1]. If left untreated, anxiety disorders usually have a chronic course with relapsing symptoms and result in impairments ranging from limitations in everyday functioning to severe disabilities [2]. Despite that, most of the cases of anxiety disorders remain undetected and untreated in the general population, even in economically developed countries, such as Latvia.
The aim of our study was to assess the one-month prevalence of anxiety disorders included in The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) and to determine the associated factors in the general population of Latvia.
Methods: Computer assisted face-to-face interviews were carried out between November 2019 and March 2020 to gather information on a representative sample of the Latvian adult population (n=2687). The study sample was selected using a stratified random sampling method. The participants were interviewed in their households using the M.I.N.I. interview version 7.0.2.; Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression was applied during the statistical analysis of the data. The significance level A (alfa) = 0.05 was used. In our study, the term “any anxiety disorders ” included: panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. All these anxiety disorders as a unified group was analysed in binary logistic regression.

Results: There were 1238 males (46.1%) and 1449 females (53.9%) recruited. Mean age of respondents was 49.9 (SD 18.2). One-month prevalence (symptoms one month before the interview) of agarophobia was 0.4%, one-month prevalence of panic disorder was 0.1%, social phobia - 0.2%, obsessive-compulsive disorder - 0.6%, post-traumatic stress disorder - 0.1%; The 6-month prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) in general population was 0.2%. The one-month prevalence of any of six anxiety disorders was 1.5%; The odds ratios of having any of above-mentioned anxiety disorders (not adjusted for confounders) were higher in people younger than 40 y.o. (vs. 65+) (p=0.01), unmarried (vs.widowed) (p=0.04), people with low self-evaluation of health state (p=0.006) (vs. high) and those with diagnosed alcohol use disorder (vs. respondents without such diagnosis) (p=0.02); The odds (not adjusted for confounders) of having any anxiety disorder were lower in people with higher income (vs. no income) (p=0.001). After adjustment by all factors simultaneously, self-evaluation of health state as low or moderate (p=0.002) (vs. high), age under forty y.o. (p=0.03) (vs. 65+) and being in economically inactive state (p=0.04) (vs. employed) appeared to be statistically significantly associated factors for any anxiety disorders.
Conclusions: Young people, those economically inactive and people with low self-assessment of health-state are at particularly significant risk of anxiety disorders, such as agarophobia, panic disorder, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. This should be adressed in developing prevention strategy and screening programmes of anxiety disorders.