Practical Psychiatric Epidemiology

Epidemiology has been defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of health states or events in defined populations and its application to the control of health problems. Psychiatric epidemiology has continued to develop and apply these core principles in relation to mental health and mental disorders.

This long-awaited second edition of Practical Psychiatric Epidemiology covers all of the considerable new developments in psychiatric epidemiology that have occurred since the first edition was published. It includes new content on key topics such as life course epidemiology, gene/environment interactions, bioethics, patient and public involvement in research, mixed methods research, new statistical methods, case registers, policy, and implementation.

Looking to the future of this rapidly evolving scientific discipline and how it will to respond to the emerging opportunities and challenges posed by 'big data', new technologies, open science and globalisation, this new edition will continue to serve as an invaluable reference for clinicians in practice and in training. It will also be of interest to researchers in mental health and people studying or teaching psychiatric epidemiology at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

Martin Prince, Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK,Robert Stewart, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology & Clinical Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK,Tamsin Ford, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK,Matthew Hotopf, Professor of General Hospital Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK,Jayati Das-Munshi, Senior Lecturer/Consultant, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK

Martin Prince is Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry, Head of the Health Services and Population Research Department at King's College London. Professor Prince serves as Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health System Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa at King's College London (ASSET) and leads the 10/66 Dementia Group's research on ageing and chronic disease in India, China, and Latin America. In 2007 he co-edited the Lancet Global Mental Health series, and helped found the movement for Global Mental Health.


Robert Stewart is Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Clinical Informatics at King's College London. He has a particular interest in the nexus point of physical and mental health and leads the Clinical and Population Informatics theme of the SLAM Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health. Since its inception in 2007, Professor Stewart has served as the academic lead for the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS).


Tamsin Ford is Professor of Child and Adolesscent Psychiatry at the University of Exeter. Upon completion of her PhD in psychiatry at King's College London she moved to the University of Exeter, where she leads a research group on the efficacy of mental health services and interventions for children and young people. From 2008 to 2014 she served as Editor for CAMH, ACAMH's journal, and was awarded a CBE for services to psychiatry in 2019.


Matthew Hotopf is Professor of General Hospital Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London. He currently serves as Director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre. Professor Hotopf has published over 300 peer reviewed papers, and was appointed Vice Dean Research of IoPPN in 2017. His main area of research is the intersection of medicine and psychiatry. In 2018 he was awarded a CBE for services to Pyschiatric Research.


Jayati Das-Munshi is a consultant psychiatrist and Clinical Scientist Fellow working with the Academy of Medical Sciences and funded by the Health Foundation. Dr Das-Munshi's research focuses on physical health inequalities in those living with severe mental illness and the intersection of migration and ethnicity in patterning health disadvantage. An honorary consultant psychiatrist with South London and Maudsley Trust, Dr Das-Munshi runs an outpatient consultation liaison service for older adults with clinical gerontology at King's College Hoispital.

Section 1 Basic principles
1. Preface to the second edition a fourth age of psychiatric epidemiologya
2. Measurement in mental health, Martin Prince and Kia-Chong Chua
3. Culture and psychiatric epidemiology, Brandon A. Kohrt and Vikram Patel
4. Ethics and research in psychiatry: consent, capacity and bioethics, Buddhika Lalanie Fernando and Athula Sumathipala
5. Ethics and research in psychiatry: engagement with patients and public, Stephani L. Hatch, Billy Gazard and Diana Rose
Section 2 Study design
6. Introduction to epidemiological study designs, Tamsin Ford, Jayati Das-Munshi, and Martin Prince
7. Qualitative research, Oana Mitrofan and Rose McCabe
8. Ecological studies and studies which consider place and health, Jayati Das-Munshi
9. Cross-sectional surveys, Martin Prince and Jayati Das-Munshi
10. The Case Control Study, Lisa Aschan and Matthew Hotopf
11. Cohort studies, Laura Goodwin and Nicola Fear
12. Randomised controlled trials, Sube Banerjee, Rod Taylor, and Jennifer Hellier
13. Surveillance, Case Registers and Big Data, Tamsin Ford, Rob Stewart, and Johnny Downs
14. Research synthesis: systematic reviews and meta-analysis, Marianna Purgato, Giovanni Ostuzzi, and Corrado Barbui
Section 3: Interpretation
15. Inference 1: chance, bias and confounding, Robert Stewart
16. Inference 2: causation, Robert Stewart
17. Critical Appraisal, Jo Thompson-Coon and Becca Abbott
Section 4: Special topics
18. Statistical techniques in Psychiatric Epidemiology, Lisa Aschan, Jayati Das-Munshi, Richard Hayes, Martin Prince, Marcus Richards, Peter Schofield, and Robert Stewart
19. Genetic Epidemiology 1: Overview, Fr?hling Rijsdijk & Paul F. O Reilly
20. Gene-environment interaction, Craig Morgan, Marta Di Forti, and Helen Fisher
21. Bio-informatics and psychiatric epidemiology, Nicola Voyle, Maximilian Kerz, Steven Kiddle, and Richard Dobson
22. Health economics for psychiatric epidemiology, Margaret Heslin, Paul McCrone, and Daniel Chisolm
23. Life course epidemiology, Marcus Richards and Rebecca Hardy
24. Evidence-based mental health policy, Valentina Iemmi, Nicole Votruba, and Graham Thornicroft
25. Looking to the future, Martin Prince, Robert Stewart, Tamsin Ford, Matthew Hotopf, and Jayati Das-Munshi