Mental disorders are widely recognized as a major contributor to the burden of disease worldwide. In most countries, over a third of the population report sufficient criteria to be diagnosed with mental illness at some point in their life, and many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. But until now Qatar lacked a comprehensive study on the prevalence of mental disorders in the general population, despite evidence that outpatient visits to Hamad Hospital’s psychiatry unit have increased considerably over the last 10 years. A recently completed study, conducted with a US $258,000, two-year grant from QNRF, provides the first systematic look at the prevalence of common mental disorders among Qataris and identifies high risk groups in the Qatari population.
Researchers from Hamad Medical Corporation, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, and the University of London found the overall prevalence of mental disorders in Qatari patients attending primary health care centers was 36.6%, which is consistent with other clinical and epidemiological surveys. According to World Health Organization estimates, nearly 25% of individuals develop one or more mental disorders at some stage in their life.
Of the studied subjects, 46.2% were males and 53.8% were females, making the female to male sex ratio 1.3:1. The most prevalent mental disorder in the Qatari population was depression (13.5%), followed by anxiety disorders (10.3%), personality disorders (7.5%) and phobia (7.3%). Phobia (p<0.001), bipolar disorder (p=0.032), and obsessive compulsive disorder (p=0.018) were significantly more prevalent among women, but schizophrenia (p=0.004) and dementia (p=0.016) were markedly higher in men. The most common mental disorders in the Qatari population — anxiety and depression — were found more frequently in the age group 18 to 34 years (43.3% and 42.9%), followed by 35-49 years (40.9% and 42.4%). The finding of a peak age for depression and anxiety disorders in midlife is in keeping with other epidemiological findings in Western countries.
The researchers who conducted the study were: Dr. Suhaila Ghuloum of Hamad Medical Corporation; Abdulbari Bener of Hamad Medical Corporation, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, and The University of Manchester; and Mohammed T. Abou-Saleh of the University of London. The cross sectional study included Qatari patients aged 18 to 65 years who attended primary health care centers throughout Qatar — nine centers from urban areas and three centers from semi-urban areas — as a representative sample of the community. Qualified nurses were trained to interview the patients and complete the questionnaires. A total of 2,080 Qatari patients were approached and 1,660 patients agreed to participate in the study, with a response rate of 79.8%. The survey instrument was tested on 100 patients who visited the health centers, and subsequently validated. The questionnaire had three parts. The first part included the socio-demographic details of participants and the second part the medical and family history. The third part was the diagnostic screening questionnaire, which consisted of 79 questions about symptoms and signs of various common mental disorders.
Mental disorders are among the most burdensome of all classes of disorders because of their high prevalence and chronicity, early age of onset and possibility of functional impairment. The study findings highlight the urgent need for systematic development of community-based mental health services for the screening, early identification, and treatment of people suffering from mental disorders.
Proposal No.: NPRP 30-6-7-38
Table 1: Prevalence of Mental Disorders among studied Qatari subjects according to gender (N=1660)
|
Variables |
Total |
Male |
Female |
P value |
| Depression |
224(13.5) |
105(13.7) |
119(13.3) |
0.829 |
| Anxiety disorder |
171(10.3) |
74(9.6) |
97(10.9) |
0.417 |
| Personality disorder |
124(7.5) |
65(8.5) |
59(6.6) |
0.149 |
| Phobia |
121(7.3) |
8(1.0) |
113(12.7) |
<0.001 |
| Bipolar disorder |
71(4.3) |
24(3.1) |
47(5.3) |
0.032 |
| Schizophrenia |
59(3.6) |
38(5.0) |
21(2.4) |
0.004 |
| Obsessive compulsive disorder |
58(3.5) |
18(2.3) |
40(4.5) |
0.018 |
| Dementia |
19(1.1) |
14(1.8) |
5(0.6) |
0.016 |
| Alcohol abuse |
18(1.1) |
14(1.8) |
4(0.4) |
0.008 |
| Drug abuse |
34(2.0) |
14(1.8) |
20(2.2) |
0.605 |
Table 2: Socio-demographic characteristics of the studied Qatari subjects by gender (N=1660)
|
Variables |
Total |
Male |
Female |
P value |
|
| Age in yrs (mean � sd) |
38.0 � 12.1 |
40.6 � 12.8 |
35.8� 11.0 |
0.000 |
|
| Age Group | |||||
| 18-34 Years |
707 (42.6) |
276 (36.0) |
431 (48.3) |
||
| 35-49 Years |
656 (39.5) |
301 (39.2) |
355 (39.8) |
<0.001 |
|
| 50-64 Years |
245 (14.8) |
152 (19.8) |
93 (10.4) |
||
| 65+ Years |
52 (3.1) |
38 (5.0) |
14 (1.6) |
||
| Marital status | |||||
| Single |
298 (18.0) |
171 (22.3) |
127 (14.2) |
||
| Married |
1270 (76.5) |
549 (71.6) |
721 (80.7) |
<0.001 |
|
| Divorced |
69 (4.2) |
38 (5.0) |
31 (3.5) |
||
| Widow |
23 (1.4) |
9 (1.2) |
14 (1.6) |
||
| Educational level | |||||
| Illiterate |
111 (6.7) |
41 (5.3) |
70 (7.8) |
||
| Primary |
141 (8.5) |
81 (10.6) |
60 (6.7) |
||
| Intermediate |
214 (12.9) |
122 (15.9) |
92 (10.3) |
<0.001 |
|
| Secondary |
591 (35.6) |
283 (36.9) |
308 (34.5) |
||
| University |
603 (36.3) |
240 (31.3) |
363 (40.6) |
||
| Occupation | |||||
| Not working |
535 (32.2) |
81 (10.6) |
454 (50.8) |
||
| Sedentary/Professional |
717 (43.2) |
360 (46.9) |
356 (40.0) |
||
| Manual |
175 (10.5) |
138 (18.0) |
37 (4.1) |
<0.001 |
|
| Business man |
92 (5.5) |
73 (9.5) |
19 (2.1) |
||
| Army/Police |
141 (8.5) |
115 (15.0) |
26 (2.9) |
||
| Household income per month (QR) | |||||
| <5,000 |
113 (6.8) |
41 (5.3) |
72 (8.1) |
||
| 5,000-9,999 |
537 (32.3) |
309 (40.3) |
228 (25.5) |
||
| 10,000-14,999 |
455 (27.4) |
223 (29.1) |
232 (26.0) |
<0.001 |
|
| >15,000 |
555 (33.4) |
194 (25.3) |
361 (40.4) |
||
| Number of bedrooms (mean�sd) |
4.7 � 2.0 |
4.4 � 1.9 |
5.0 � 2 |
<0.001 |
|
| Number of people living in house(mean � sd) |
6.2 � 3.0 |
6.2 � 2.7 |
6.2 � 3.3 |
0.716 |
|
| Consanguinity | |||||
| Yes |
620 (37.3) |
306 (39.9) |
314 (35.2) |
0.047 |
|
| No |
1040 (62.7) |
461 (60.1) |
579 (64.8) |
||
Courtesy: Qatar National Research Fund
TMS World 