[Socio-demographic and clinical profile of a population of patients coming for consultation to the psychiatric department of a general hospital in southern Tunisia].

Introduction: mental disorders are a very common health condition and a major public health issue. The purpose of this study was to examine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients coming for consultation to the psychiatric department of the Regional Hospital of Gabes, and to identify risk factors for the main mental disorders.

Methods: we conducted a retrospective study, including all patients consulting the psychiatry department of Gabes for the first time between 01/01/2010 and 31/12/2013. Diagnoses were classified according to the 10 reversion of the WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD10).

Results: one thousand one hundred and one consultation cases were included in this study. The sex ratio (M/F) was 0.96. The average age of patients was 34 years (IQR=24-47.5 years), the median time between symptom onset and consultation to the psychiatric department was 1 year (IQR=3months-2 years). The three most common diagnosed were depressive disorders (21%), followed by schizophrenia (10.6%) and mental retardation (9.7%). Depressive disorders were significantly more common among female patients (p<0.001), married patients (p<0.001) and middle-aged adults (40-65 years) (p<0.001). The prevalence of these disorders was not significantly associated with either educational level, professional activity or socio-economic level.

Conclusion: the knowledge of the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the most frequent mental disorders and factors associated with them would make it possible to better adapt the supply of care to the demand and to identify the needs in terms of mental health training in South-East Tunisia.