• About this study
• Our findings
• Our study details

Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England 2007

Results of a household survey

Did you know?

Just over 16% of people in England had a common mental disorder, such as anxiety or depression, when interviewed - an overall rate that hasn't changed since 2000.

from : Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England 2007 findings

About this study

Successive governments in the 1990s identified mental health and illness as key public health priorities in England and set out frameworks for action.

First conducted in 1993, the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) series is designed to inform policy and monitor change - and England is unique in sustaining a national mental health survey programme of this kind.

Now find out more

You can read the findings from 2007 on this website or as a pdf here. You can also find out more about the National Mental Health Survey series. If you'd like more details on the survey and its findings, the full report and the technical report (including questionnaire) can be downloaded from the NHS IC website.

We've also conducted some secondary analysis of APMS data which looks at the relationship between health, mental health and housing conditions. You can read more about this study here.

Timeline

Potential policy impact

Because of the wealth of information collected about debt and employment status as part of the contextual information gathered during the interview, the APMS survey series has recently provided valuable insights into the impact of recession on mental health.

Method

The first survey in the series was conducted by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in 1993 among 16 to 64-year-olds, and repeated in 2000 (16 to 74-year-olds) and 2007 (without upper age limit).

As with the preceding surveys, the 2007 survey used a two-phase approach for the assessment of several disorders. The initial interview was followed up with an assessment conducted by a clinically trained research interviewer for a sub-sample of respondents.

In 2007, the initial interview had face-to-face and self-completion components and lasted an average of 90 minutes. NatCen interviewers carried out structured assessments and screening instruments for a range of psychiatric disorders, as well as asking questions on other topics, such as general health, service use, risk factors and demographics.

The second phase interviews were carried out by clinically trained research interviewers employed by the University of Leicester. This enabled the assessment of disorders such as psychosis, personality disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder, which require a more detailed and flexible interview and the use of clinical judgement. A sub-sample of phase one respondents were invited to take part.

We used a stratified random probability sample survey of people living in private households in England. This means prevalence estimates for the general population can be produced, and not just among people who are in contact with services.

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