ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part provides an overview of the World Health Organisation multicentre studies of schizophrenia: these underline the heuristic importance of a global view. It describes the psychiatric epidemiology research programme being undertaken at the National Institute of Mental Health in the USA. The part draw on their experiences in studying psychiatric disorder in the community and in primary care settings in Brazil, India, and Taiwan respectively, and aims to provide some observations on the problems which arise in the cross-cultural measurement of psychiatric morbidity. While a national programme of research is addressed to national priorities and many of the detailed findings are specially pertinent to the catchment areas involved, the experience gained and the broader implications of the findings are of international significance.
