World Mental Health Survey, South Africa, 2003-2004 (ICPSR 39530)
Version Date: Apr 22, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Dan J. Stein, University of Cape Town;
David R. Williams, Harvard University. School of Public Health
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39530.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative was a coordinated series of general population surveys of mental, substance use, and behavioral disorders conducted in countries across all World Health Organization (WHO) regions. The approach taken by WMH was to conduct rigorous general population surveys in nationally representative samples in many countries throughout the world, to generate data from these surveys on the prevalence, severity, course, and treatment of mental disorders. Data were collected using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) which uses both ICD-10 and DSM-III diagnostic criteria. This survey was conducted in South Africa and utilized the Afrikaans, English, North Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu versions of the CIDI.
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Country
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, the data file in this collection is restricted from general dissemination. To obtain this restricted file, researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
- For additional information on The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative, please visit The World Mental Health Survey Initiative website.
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Supporting documentation to distinguish Part I and II of the survey was not included. Users can utilize crosstabs on the weight variables FINALP1WT and FINALP2WT to determine whether variables in Datasets 1 and 2 were derived from Part I or II of the survey:
- If a participant without valid values for FINALP2WT responded to a variable, that variable is in Part I of the survey.
- Variables that only have responses from participants with FINALP2WT valid values are in Part II of the survey.
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The Restricted-Use Raw South Africa Data were provided without complete variable and value labels, but with a P.I. Questionnaire. This Raw dataset and the corresponding documents are released to provide supplemental information. The Raw dataset is released as Restricted-Use because it contains the original, more granular variables that were used to create the constructed variables in the Public-Use Cleaned South Africa Data and the Restricted-Use Cleaned South Africa Data.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The WMH Survey Initiative was designed to fill major gaps in global mental health data. Earlier estimates of the burden of mental and addictive disorders relied largely on literature reviews and isolated studies. In contrast, WMH surveys provide rigorously implemented, nationally or regionally representative data to:
- Estimate the prevalence and distribution of mental, substance use, and behavioral disorders
- Identify risk and protective factors to inform prevention and intervention strategies
- Describe patterns of service use, unmet need, and barriers to care
- Improve estimates of the global burden of disease attributable to mental disorders for public health planning
Sample View help for Sample
3 design stages; (1) stratification by regions and ethnic composition of ED (units- census ED(960); (2) household; (3) random adult
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Adults aged 18 or older living in private or group residences in South Africa; nationally representative.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
The overall response rate was 87.10 percent.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
All countries that participated in the WMH Survey Initiative administered Version 3.0 of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), a fully structures interview that is designed to be used by trained lay interviewers to generate diagnoses according to the definitions and criteria of both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and the WHO International Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders (ICD-10). The CIDI was translated from the American English source instrument according to longstanding WHO guidelines for translation and back-translation, which were modified by a working group of experienced survey researchers. Due to language and cultural differences, in some cases different terms or questions were used in order to assess the presence versus absence of symptoms. This study used the Afrikaans, English, North Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu versions of the CIDI.
HideWeight View help for Weight
The final analysis weight (FINALP1WT) for each respondent was computed as the product of three weight components: the selection weight factor for the respondent, the nonresponse weight adjustment factor for the respondent, and the post-stratification factor for the respondent.
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These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.