Psychological Distress among Adults of an Urban Community of Lalitpur District, Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Psychological distress is a widespread indicator of mental health. It is a state of emotional suffering associated with stressors and demands that are difficult to cope with in daily life. The study aimed to identify the prevalence of the psychological distress among adult population. Methods: A cross-sectional house to house survey was conducted in an urban community for four weeks in 2018. Face to face interview was done among 618 adults using Kessler K6 Nepali version interview questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson Chi-square and Pearson correlation) were used for analyzing the data. P value was set at 0.05. Results: We found that 0.3% adults had severe psychological distress, 1.5% had mild to moderate and 98.2% had no psychological distress. Education, past history of mental health problem and occupational status were significantly associated with psychological distress (p-value = < 0.05). Age, alcohol intake and smoking cigarettes were positively correlated with psychological distress (r = 0.12), (r = 0.13), (r = 0.10) respectively and education was significantly negatively correlated with psychological distress (r = - 0.16). Conclusion: Our findings showed low psychological distress among urban community adults. Education, history of mental problem and occupation were associated with psychological distress. Higher the age, positive history of smoking and alcohol were associated with high psychological distress. However, the adults who had high education had low psychological distress. Thus, it suggests that elderly people in an urban community might need psychological support. Key words: Adults, Psychological distress, Urban community.