Revised Prevalence Estimates of Mental Disorders in the United States

Current US mental disorder prevalence estimates have limited usefulness for service planning and are often discrepant. Data on clinical significance from the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program (ECA) and the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) were used to produce revised estimates, for more accurate projections of treatment need and further explication of rate discrepancies.

To ascertain the prevalence of clinically significant mental disorders in each survey, responses to questions on life interference from, telling a professional about, or using medication for symptoms were applied to cases meeting symptom criteria in the ECA (n = 20,861) and NCS (n = 8098). A revised national prevalence estimate was made by selecting the lower estimate of the 2 surveys for each diagnostic category, accounting for comorbidity, and combining categories.