BACKGROUND: To describe the lifetime and 12-month prevalence, severity and age of onset distribution of DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) disorders and to explore the association between socio-demographic variables and economic stressors with mental disorders during the economic crisis in the general population of Murcia (Spain). METHODS AND FINDINGS: The PEGASUS-Murcia Project is a cross-sectional face-to-face interview survey of a representative sample of non-institutionalized adults in Murcia administered between June 2010 and May 2012. DSM-IV disorders were assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0). Main outcome measures were lifetime and 12-month prevalence of Anxiety, Mood, Impulse and Substance Disorders, Severity and Age of Onset. Sociodemographic variables and stressful economic life events during the preceding 12 months were entered as independent variables in a logistic regression analysis. A total of 2,621 participants (67.4% response rate) were interviewed, 54.5% female, mean age 48.6 years. Twelve-month prevalence (95%CI) of disorders: anxiety 9.7% (7.6-12.2), mood 6.6% (5.5-8.1), impulse 0.3% (0.1-1.2) and substance use 1.0% (0.4-2.4) disorders. Lifetime prevalence: anxiety 15.0% (12.3-18.1), mood 15.6% (13.5-18.1), impulse 2.4% (1.4-4.0) and substance use 8.3% (6.2-11.0) disorders. Severity among 12-month cases: serious 29.2% (20.8-39.4), moderate 35.6% (24.0-49.1) and mild severity 35.2% (29.5-41.5). Women were 3.7 and 2.5 times more likely than men to suffer 12-month anxiety and mood disorders, respectively. Substance use was more frequent among men. Younger age and lower income were associated with higher prevalence. Respondents exposed to multiple and recent economic stressors had the highest risk of anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Mental disorders in the adult population of Murcia during the economic crisis were more prevalent and serious than those in previous estimates for Spain. Prevalence was strongly associated with exposure to stressors related to the economic crisis.

Funding: The PEGASUS-Murcia Project was supported by the Regional Health Authorities of Murcia (“Servicio Murciano de Salud and Consejería de Sanidad y Política Social”) (Decreto nº 455/2009), the “Fundación para la Formación e Investigación Sanitarias (FFIS) de la Región de Murcia” (Nº Expedientes: CM0829 I and FIDS/EMER09/14) and the “Ayudas para proyectos de Investigación en Salud –ISCIII- del Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica” (PI12/00809). None of the funders had any role in the design, analysis, interpretation of results, or preparation of this paper. The PEGASUS-Murcia project is carried out in conjunction with the WHOWMH Survey Initiative. The authors thank the WMH Coordinating Center staff at Harvard and Michigan Universities for their assistance with the instrumentation, fieldwork and data analysis. These activities were supported by the United States National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH070884), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, the U.S. Public Health Service (R13-MH066849, R01-MH069864, and R01 DA016558), the Fogarty International Center (FIRCA R03- TW006481), the Pan American Health Organization, the Eli Lilly & Company Foundation, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Shire. A complete list of WMH publications can be found at http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/.