Public knowledge and attitude towards anxiety disorder and depression in Shanghai, Beijing and Changsha

Objective To assess knowledge about anxiety disorder and depression among residents in three cities in China. Methods In Shanghai, Beijing and Changsha, 2 072 residents were selected via two-stage random sampling. All respondents were asked to complete a mental health questionnaire, including demographic information, two of the four case vignettes describing generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and depression followed by questions relevant to the cases. Results There were 1 805 respondents completed the questionnaire, including 2 696 cases of anxiety disorder and 914 cases of depression in total. Correct judgment rate of depression (47.2%, 431/914) was higher than anxiety disorder (38.0%, 1 025/2 696). A majority of respondents believed that anxiety disorder (85.8%,2 312/2 696) and depression (94.3%,862/914) were caused by environmental factors. Psychological counseling (82.3%, 2 972/3 610) and self-regulation (84.0%, 3 031/3 610) were the two most frequent suggestions of help-seeking. There were more than 60% of the respondents willing to work, be neighbors, chat or make friends with patients with anxiety disorder or depression respectively. Higher education, older age and having seen/heard a similar case were related to higher recognition scores of anxiety disorder. Higher education and female were related with that of depression. In addition, respondents who was 35 years old or above hadn't seen/heard a similar case got higher social distance scores of anxiety disorder. Male and not having seen/heard a similar situation were related to higher social distance scores of depression. Significant differences of identification scores were found between Shanghai (2.2±1.0), Beijing(2.2±1.1) and Changsha (2.1 ± 1.1), F=3.44, P<0.05. Differences about cause of and coping strategies for anxiety disorder and depression also existed among residents in these cities. Conclusion Public knowledge towards anxiety disorder is not as good as depression. Most people don't have comprehensive understanding of the cause of and coping strategies for anxiety disorder and depression. Age, sex are the impact factors of the public attitude to anxiety disorder and depression, and whether having seen/heard a similar situation may be the common impact factor. Key words: Anxiety, separation; Depression; Attitude; Public knowledge