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Purpose Our objectives are to assess the public attitude toward mentally ill people and mental health services and to compare the attitudes of those who have past history of mental illness, those who have been exposed to mentally ill people, and those who have not. Materials and Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among subjects ( n =1268) in four Saudi Arabian cities (Riyadh, Abha, Dammam, and Jizan), recruiting participants from malls and parks. All participants were administered “the knowledge and attitudes toward mental illness and mental health services scale”. Results Participants were divided into three groups; non-exposed to mental illness group ( n =687, 54.1%), exposed to mental illness group ( n =305, 24%), and having past history of mental illness group ( n =276, 21.8%). Results revealed that non-exposed group had the lowest knowledge about mental illness ( p <0.001). Exposed group had the best attitude toward mentally ill people ( p =0.002), mental health services ( p < 0.001), the lowest impact of traditional beliefs ( p <0.001), and the best help-seeking decisions ( p = 0.001). Regression models show the variables that predicted attitude toward the mentally ill were the attitude toward mental health services ( p =0.001), impact of traditional beliefs ( p =0.001), and residency ( p =0.04). The predictors of attitude toward mental health services were impact of traditional beliefs ( p <0.001), knowledge ( p <0.001), and residency ( p =0.028). And the variables that account for predicting future decisions were impact of traditional beliefs ( p <0.001), attitude toward mental health services ( p =0.001), and having past history of mental illness ( p =0.006). Conclusion This study demonstrates significant differences in attitudes toward mental illness among different groups of participants. Lesser impact of traditional beliefs and better knowledge about mental illness were the factors most associated with better attitudes toward mentally ill people and mental health services and with better help-seeking behavior.

Objectiveto examine the longitudinal effect of depression on glycemic control in a sample of patients with type 2 diabetes.Methodsthe patients were recruited from diabetes clinic in Saudi airlines medical center, in Jeddah, the base line study community consisted from 172 patients with type 2 diabetes. They were assessed for depression using BDI II, and diagnostic interview, and for diabetic control using HbA1c. We created a person-period data set for each patient to cover 6 months intervals up to 3 years. We used generalized estimation equation (GEE) for analysis of longitudinal data. HbA1C was the response variable while depression and time were the main covariates. Variables were included in GEE models based on clinical importance and preliminary analysis. Other variables included as covariates were gender, education, duration of diabetes, co-morbidity and LDL. All statistical analysis used α = 0.05 level of significance and were performed using SPSS software version 21.ResultsUnadjusted HbA1c means were significantly higher in depressed vs. non-depressed subjects at all time points. The adjusted HbA1c means in final GEE model were significantly higher in depressed vs. non-depressed subjects. In all adjusted models depression was a predictor of glycemic control weather it was BDI score (estimate = .049, P = .002), diagnoses of MDD (estimate = 2.038, P = .000), or other depressive diagnosis (estimate = 1.245, P = .000).ConclusionThis study on clinical sample of type 2 diabetic patients demonstrates that there is a significant longitudinal relationship between depression and glycemic control and that depression is associated with persistently higher HbA1c over time.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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