Mental health research trends in Sri Lanka

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To review the number of research publications in the field of mental health in Sri Lanka from 1900 to 2009. METHODS: A search of all publications in psychiatry and mental health from Sri Lanka was conducted using Pubmed, all medical journals published in Sri Lanka and researchers. The identified papers were reviewed for their content and categorised as research in psychiatry and mental health, based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 207 papers were identified. The first mental health research publication from Sri Lanka is in 1964. The last decade (2000-2009) accounted for 62% of the publications with the majority of the papers being published in indexed journals. The Ceylon Medical Journal carried the most number of papers and the topic on which most of the research was conducted was suicide and deliberate self harm. CONCLUSIONS: There is an increasing trend towards research in to psychiatry and mental health in Sri Lanka.