Prevalence and correlates of common mental disorders among participants of the Uganda Genome Resource: Opportunities for psychiatric genetics research

Abstract

Genetics research has the potential to alleviate the burden of mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries through the identification of new mechanistic pathways which can lead to efficacious drugs or new drug targets. However, there is currently limited genetics data from Africa. The Uganda Genome Resource is a well-characterized genomic database which provides opportunities for psychiatric genetics research among underrepresented people from Africa. We determined the prevalence and correlates of major depressive disorder (MDD), suicidality, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol abuse, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and probable attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among 985 participants of the Uganda Genome Resource. The prevalence of the disorders were: current MDD 19.3 %, lifetime MDD 23.3%, suicidality 10.6%, PTSD 3.1%, alcohol abuse 5.7%, GAD 12.9% and probable ADHD 9.2%. This is the first study to determine the prevalence of probable ADHD among adult Ugandans from a general population. We found a significant association between sex and alcohol abuse (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.26 [0.14,0.45], p<0.001), alcohol abuse and GAD (AOR=1.78 [1.09,2.49], p=0.019). We also found a significant association between body mass index and suicidality (AOR=0.85 [0.73,0.99], p=0.041), alcohol abuse (AOR=0.86 [0.78,0.94], p=0.003) and GAD (AOR=0.93 [0.87,0.98], p=0.008). We also found a significant association between high blood pressure and lifetime MDD (AOR =2.87 [1.08,7.66], p=0.035) and probable ADHD (AOR =1.99 [1.00,3.97], p=0.050). We also found a statistically significant association between tobacco smoking and alcohol abuse (AOR=3.2 [1.56,6.67], p=0.002). In conclusion, the Uganda Genome Resource presents opportunity for psychiatric genetics research among underrepresented people from Africa.