Twelve‐month prevalence and severity of mental disorders in the Saudi National Mental Health Survey

Abstract

Objectives To estimate 12‐month prevalence and severity of mental disorders in the Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS). Methods The SNMHS is a face‐to‐face community epidemiological survey in a nationally representative household sample of citizens aged 15 to 65 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (n = 4,004). The World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to estimate 12‐month prevalence of common DSM‐IV mental disorders. Results Twelve‐month prevalence of any DSM‐IV/CIDI disorder is 20.2%. Most common are anxiety disorders (12.3%) followed by mood (6.8%), disruptive behavior (5.4%), eating (3.2%), and substance use (1.9%) disorders. The proportion of 12‐month cases rated serious (39.0% of all cases) is high across virtually all disorders relative to the proportions found in CIDI surveys in other high‐income countries. Younger people have significantly elevated odds of mood and disruptive behavior disorders and serious disorders. Women have significantly elevated odds of anxiety and mood disorders and serious disorders. Previously married people have significantly elevated odds of most disorder classes and serious disorders. Conclusions Both 12‐month prevalence and severity of DSM‐IV/CIDI disorders are high in Saudi Arabia compared to other high‐income countries that carried out comparable surveys.

An update on the prevalence of eating disorders in the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…There were 6 Chinese articles (including 3 dissertations [12,23,24]) and 13 separate English articles. Three studies were conducted in America [13,18,25]; 3 in Australia [1,26]; 1 each in Italy [22], Switzerland [17], Korea [21] and Saudi Arabia [15,16]; and 8 in China [12,23,24,[27][28][29][30][31], in which only 1 was national research [31], while the remaining 7 were regional studies limited to provinces or cities. DSM-IV and DSM-5 were used as newer diagnostic criteria than DSM-III and ICD.…”

“…With the increasing attention to eating disorders in recent years, more and more related studies have emerged. Epidemiological studies have also increased, with many from the Asia countries and some even reporting high prevalence rates [15,16]. More researches in men have also been reported, and the view that women are dominant seems to have wavered [4,17].…”

Barriers to Mental Health Treatment in the Saudi National Mental Health Survey

“…As participating investigators in the (WMH) surveys, the KSA researchers recently completed the Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS), a nationally representative study of the KSA population. Previous SNMHS assessments estimated that 20.2% of the population had at least one 12-month DSM-IV/CIDI disorder [20]. These estimates are suggestive of an unmet need for mental health services in the KSA [21], with only 13.7% of respondents diagnosed with a 12-month disorder reporting to having received treatment.…”

“…noncore disorders of participants who had reported any lifetime disorder in Part I, and a probability subsample of other Part I respondents (Figure 1). The estimated overall response rate for the SNMHS was 61% [20]. Informed written consent was obtained before the interview, and recruitment procedures were approved through the institutional review board of the Office of Research Affairs at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (RAC#: 2091093).…”

Mental health disorders research in the countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), 2008–17, and the disease burden: Bibliometric study

“…The prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in Turkey has generally been found to be lower than in western countries (although somewhat higher than in Asian countries), as was shown in a collaborative international study [ 17 , 18 ]. More recent epidemiological studies in the OIC countries revealed 12-month prevalence rates that were higher than those of Turkey (13.6% in Iraq and 20.2% in Saudi Arabia) [ 19 , 20 ]. Although their incidence was relatively low then, it has since grown more rapidly than in most other OIC countries ( Table 2 ).…”