Lifetime treatment of DSM-IV mental disorders in the Saudi National Mental Health Survey.
Abdullah S Al-Subaie, Yasmin A Altwaijri, Abdulhameed Al-Habeeb, Lisa Bilal, Amani Almeharish, Nancy A Sampson, Howard Liu, Ronald C Kessler
Author Information
Abdullah S Al-Subaie: SABIC Psychological Health Research & Applications Chair (SPHRAC), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yasmin A Altwaijri: SABIC Psychological Health Research & Applications Chair (SPHRAC), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Abdulhameed Al-Habeeb: National Center for Mental Health Promotion, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Lisa Bilal: SABIC Psychological Health Research & Applications Chair (SPHRAC), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Amani Almeharish: Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Scientific Computing Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Nancy A Sampson: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Howard Liu: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ronald C Kessler: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. ORCID
OBJECTIVES: To estimate lifetime treatment rates 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 ages 15-65 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (n = 4,004). The World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to produce estimates of lifetime prevalence and treatment of common DSM-IV mental disorders. RESULTS: Lifetime treatment ranged from 52.2% for generalized anxiety disorder to 20.3% for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, had a median (interquartile range) of 35.5% (30.6-39.5%) across disorders, and was 28.3% for people with any lifetime DSM-IV/CIDI disorder. Half (49.0%) of patients received treatment in the mental health specialty sector, 35.9% in the general medical sector, 35.2% in the human services sector, and 15.7% in the complementary-alternative medical sector. Median (interquartile range) delays in help-seeking after disorder onset among respondents who already sought treatment were 8 (3-15) years. Odds of seeking treatment are positively related to age-of-onset and comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Unmet need for treatment of lifetime mental disorders is a major problem in KSA. Interventions to ensure prompt help-seeking are needed to reduce the burdens and hazards of untreated mental disorders.
