Mental health in UK Biobank - development, implementation and results from an online questionnaire completed by 157,366 participants. [Retracted]

Abstract

Background: UK Biobank is a well-characterised cohort of over 500,000 participants that offers unique opportunities to investigate multiple diseases and risk factors. An online mental health questionnaire completed by UK Biobank participants expands the potential for research into mental disorders. Methods: An expert working group designed the questionnaire, using established measures where possible, and consulting with a service user group regarding acceptability. Case definitions were defined using operational criteria for lifetime depression, mania, anxiety disorder, psychotic-like experiences and self-harm, and current post-traumatic stress and alcohol use disorders. Results: 157,366 completed online questionnaires were available by August 2017. Comparison of self-reported diagnosed mental disorder with a contemporary study shows a similar prevalence, despite respondents being of higher average socioeconomic status than the general population across a range of indicators. Thirty-five percent (55,750) of participants had at least one defined syndrome, of which lifetime depression was the most common at 24% (37,434). There was extensive comorbidity among the syndromes. Mental disorders were associated with high neuroticism score, adverse life events and long-term illness; addiction and bipolar affective disorder in particular were associated measures of deprivation. Conclusions: The questionnaire represents a very large mental health survey in itself, and the results presented here show high face validity, although caution is needed due to selection bias. Built into UK Biobank, these data intersect with other health data to offer unparalleled potential for crosscutting biomedical research involving mental health.