Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
Jonathan R. I. Coleman
Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
Mark Adams
Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Naomi Allen
UK Biobank and Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, Oxford, UK
Gerome Breen
Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
Breda Cullen
Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, and The Academic Centre, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow, UK
Chris Dickens
Institute of Health Research, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK
Elaine Fox
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Nick Graham
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Jo Holliday
UK Biobank and Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, Oxford, UK
Louise M. Howard
Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience: Section of Women's Mental Health, King's College London and David Goldberg Centre, London, UK
Ann John
Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK
William Lee
Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Plymouth, and Devon Partnership NHS Trust, Exeter, UK
Rose McCabe
University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK
Andrew McIntosh
Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Robert Pearsall
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Daniel J. Smith
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Cathie Sudlow
UK Biobank and Centre for Medical Informatics, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Joey Ward
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Stan Zammit
Centre for Academic Mental Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, and Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
Matthew Hotopf
Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
BackgroundUK Biobank is a well-characterised cohort of over 500 000 participants that offers unique opportunities to investigate multiple diseases and risk factors.AimsAn online mental health questionnaire completed by UK Biobank participants was expected to expand the potential for research into mental disorders.MethodAn expert working group designed the questionnaire, using established measures where possible, and consulting with a patient group regarding acceptability. Case definitions were defined using operational criteria for lifetime depression, mania, anxiety disorder, psychotic-like experiences and self-harm, as well as current post-traumatic stress and alcohol use disorders.Results157 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 per cent (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 with measures of deprivation.ConclusionsThe questionnaire represents a very large mental health survey in itself, and the results presented here show high face validity, although caution is needed owing 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.Declaration of interestG.B. received grants from the National Institute for Health Research during the study; and support from Illumina Ltd. and the European Commission outside the submitted work. B.C. received grants from the Scottish Executive Chief Scientist Office and from The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation during the study. C.S. received grants from the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust during the study, and is the Chief Scientist for UK Biobank. M.H. received grants from the Innovative Medicines Initiative via the RADAR-CNS programme and personal fees as an expert witness outside the submitted work.
