Prevalence and Incidence
A large-scale study found that the lifetime prevalence rate of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is 4%. The highest prevalence rate is for the group from the mid-late adolescence to mid adulthood.
-
A study done by the Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2005 showed that 3.2% of the participants at the age from 15 to 45 had met the SAD diagnostic criteria, among whom the highest prevalence rate is for the group at the age from 16 to 30.
-
In 2009, a follow-up study indicated that the SAD prevalence rate in 12 months is up to 28.7%.
-
Both local and overseas studies showed that the incidence rate of SAD for female is higher than that for male.
Source: (1) Stein, D. J., Lim, C. C., Roest, A. M., De Jonge, P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., ... & De Girolamo, G. (2017). The cross-national epidemiology of social anxiety disorder: Data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. BMC Medicine, 15(1), 143.
(2) Lee, S., Lee, M. T., & Kwok, K. (2005). A community-based telephone survey of social anxiety disorder in Hong Kong. Journal of Affective Disorders, 88(2), 183-186.
(3) Lee, S., Ng, K. L., Kwok, K. P., & Tsang, A. (2009). Prevalence and correlates of social fears in Hong Kong. Journal of anxiety disorders, 23(3), 327-332.