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

• Published in: International journal of methods in psychiatric research Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. e1831 - n/a
• Main Authors: Altwaijri, Yasmin A., Al‐Habeeb, Abdulhameed, Al‐Subaie, Abdullah S., Bilal, Lisa, Al‐Desouki, Majid, Shahab, Mona K., Hyder, Sanaa, Sampson, Nancy A., King, Andrew J., Kessler, Ronald C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.09.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Epidemiology; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental health; Mood; Prevalence; Public health; Saudi Arabia - epidemiology; Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS); Special Issue; Substance abuse; Substance use; Surveys; WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative; Saudi Arabia; WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative; epidemiology; prevalence; Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS); mental disorders
• ISSN: 1049-8931; 1557-0657; 1557-0657
• DOI: 10.1002/mpr.1831

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.