Status of Mental Health Research Concerning Women In Iran Over the Past 3 Decades

The purpose of this scientometric study was a quantitative analysis of mental health research concerning women in Iran. All scientific papers published in a 30year - period (1973-2002), in both national as well as international scientific journals, were brought into consideration for this study. Articles are indexed in the "Databank for Iranian Mental Health Researches (IranPsych)". The articles in which the samples or the main subjects were females, considered as mental health in women. Authors assessed these studies for the following data: year of publication and language, specific fields and subject topics, research design, location of data collection, financial supports, gender and academic degree and the status of collaboration among authors. Out Of 3031 articles, 239 (%7.9) were related to mental health in women. Most have been published in general medical journals and the overall trend of publications shows arise. The first authors in two - third of the articles were women and the most common area of research was psychology. The most common research topic was psychological factors affecting medical condition, especially gynecological and obstetrical problems. There were a few articles about old age female mental health or occupational mental health. There were no mental health professionals among the authors of 20% of the articles. It is suggested that collaboration should increase among mental health groups and other clinicians. Subject topics about women in rural area, health service, occupational mental health and elderly female need further research.