Overview of the Saudi National Mental Health Survey

Abstract

Objectives To present background information for the Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS) on the Saudi mental healthcare delivery system and previous epidemiological research on the prevalence and treatment of mental disorders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods Archival information and the results of a literature review are presented. Results KSA is the largest sovereign nation in the Middle East and the largest free market economy in the Middle East and North Africa. A national mental health policy has been in existence since 2006, but mental health spending still is less than in most other high‐income countries. The Ministry of Health has recently begun developing a new healthcare system based on a patient‐centered model of care that will integrate care of mental disorders with care of physical disorders. Previous epidemiological research on mental disorders in KSA has been limited, making the SNMHS important for policy planning purposes to obtain accurate estimates of prevalence, treatment, and barriers to treatment. Conclusions The SNMHS will provide valuable information for policy planning purposes on the burden of untreated mental disorders in KSA and barriers to treatment.

The comparative importance of mental and physical disorders for health-related days out of role in the general population of Saudi Arabia

“…The SNMHS sample design [ 6 ] and field procedures [ 21 ] have been reported in detail elsewhere. In brief, though, the survey was based on a stratified multistage clustered area probability design in which Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were constructed separately within each of the 11 administrative areas based on census counts based on maps provided and updated by the Ministry of Economy and Planning [ 22 ].…”

“…5 Edrak Medical Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 6 Mental Health Department, King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. 7 Vision Realization Office, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.…”

“…While only small variations have been found in the proportion of individuals reporting health-related DOR across high-income Western countries [ 5 ], estimates specific to individual countries are necessary to make accurate health policy decisions about the cost-effectiveness of various initiatives to reduce disease burden. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has committed to developing a new healthcare system that meets the social, mental, and physical needs of its population [ 6 ]. Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study suggest that mental disorders need to be a central component in these plans given that this class of disorders is estimated to play a key role in the disease burden of the KSA population [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Rates of depression, anxiety, and stress in King Abdulaziz University freshmen, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

“…30 Recently, the Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS) results were published, showing a lifetime prevalence of depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) of 6.0% and 1.9%, respectively. 31 In our survey, we asked about anxiety disorder diagnoses in general, while the prevalence data in the SNMHS were specific to GAD. This in addition to the surprising fact provided by SNMHS that more educated Saudis were more prone to have mental illness, and the increased risk for our sample population might explain the difference between our result and that of the SNMHS.…”

The Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic among Emerging Adults: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study

“…Saudi Arabia has a population of 33 million with almost an equal gender distribution. In Saudi Arabia, close to 75% of the population is less than 35 years of age [12]. In 2016, Saudi Arabia had a university capacity of 1.7 million [13].…”