Danish Severe Mental Illness Prevalence and Incidence Trends, 1996–2018

1996–2018 nationwide registry data on severe mental illness (SMI) in Danish adults, including prevalence and incidence trends. The dataset, created by Sofie Norgil Damgaard, is based on diagnoses from the Danish National Patient Registry and includes age- and sex-specific analyses. It reports that crude prevalence of depression more than doubled between 2000 and 2018.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in severe mental illness prevalence based on nationwide registry data from 1996–2018
• Compare incidence rates of depression, bipolar, and psychotic disorders based on age and sex stratification
• Study the changing burden of mental illness in younger adult populations (18–29 years) based on reported trends

Strengths

• Nationwide coverage using the Danish National Patient Registry, a comprehensive health data source
• Longitudinal data spanning over two decades (1996–2018) for incidence and prevalence
• Includes specific percentage changes for disorders, such as a 137.5% rise in depression incidence

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling
• Data may reflect diagnostic and reporting biases inherent to clinical registry systems

Provenance

Source

Danish National Patient Registry

Collection Method

Analysis of psychiatric hospital diagnoses recorded in the national registry

Time Range

1996–2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-08 12:16:30; freshness should be verified

Geography

Denmark