Introduction:

common mental disorders can have a significant impact on the lives of indigenous people, leading to disability, decreased productivity, and increased mortality.

Objective:

to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders in indigenous people from five departments of Paraguay in 2022.

Methods:

a cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted in indigenous people residing in the departments of Alto Paraguay, Boquerón, Concepción, Caaguazú, and Presidente Hayes, Paraguay. Data were collected using the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). This instrument consisted of 20 yes/no questions pertaining to the month prior to the interview.

Results:

a total of 779 indigenous people aged 18-69 years participated in the study. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.89, and the Kaiser-Meyers-Olkin measure was 0.88. The SRQ+ was 25.80 % (201), 14.51 % (113) had symptoms of depression, 16.17 % (126) had symptoms of anxiety, and 12.58 % (98) had symptoms of psychosis.

Conclusion:

a high prevalence of common mental disorders was found, according to the SRQ, with psychosis being the most common. These findings underscore the need to improve access to mental health services for indigenous people in Paraguay.

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