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Abstract: Objective: The Israel National Health Survey - World Mental Health Survey (INHS) was designed to collect data on (a) the prevalence of mental disorders; (b) the prevalence of impairments and disabilities; (c) chronic conditions, disability, physical health, health services utilization and out-of-pocket medical expenditure which might be associated with mental disorder; and (d) socioeconomic and demographic correlates of mental disorder. This paper presents an overview of the methods used in this survey. Method: The INHS was a cross-sectional survey based on a representative sample of 5,000 adults, 21 years or older, from the general population of Israel. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) was administered in face-to-face interviews at the respondents' homes between May, 2003, and April, 2004, using computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) technology. Results: The overall response rate was 72.6%. Conclusion: The methodology and the quality control procedures used have made the INHS database a unique source of information about the prevalence, disability burden and unmet health needs of people suffering from common mental disorders and substance disorders in Israel.
Introduction
Before this survey, available data on the burden of mental health disorders and care-seeking patterns were limited to particular segments of the population or to specific psychiatric disorders and associated disabilities (1-10). The Israel National Health Survey (INHS) project was designed to fill some of the gaps, the initiative for the survey having come from the Israel Ministry of Health, and it was developed and implemented in collaboration with Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The main objectives of the survey were:
1. To establish 12-month and lifetime prevalence rates for common mental disorders;
2. To estimate the extent of disability associated with a psychiatric diagnosis and with symptoms not meeting the diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorder;
3. To investigate the associations between psychiatric diagnoses or symptoms and demographic/socioeconomic variables and utilization of services;
4. To identify help-seeking patterns both within and outside the health service sector; and
5. To compare Israeli prevalence rates with those obtained by analogous studies in other WMHS countries, in order to identify general and specific factors that could explain local findings.
This paper presents an overview of the methods deployed in the survey, including the instruments for case identification and diagnosis, the sampling...