Prevalence of mental disorders among patients attending primary health care centers in the capital of Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of common mental disorders at primary health care (PHC) centers in Saudi Arabia using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study carried out at a single PHC center in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A self-medication questionnaire was utilized to collect the data. The prevalence of mental disorders has assessed by the Self-Reporting Questionnaire that consists of 20 items with binary answers (Yes/No). RESULTS: This study reports that the prevalence of mental disorders among patients attended primary health care center was 28.5%. Moreover, prevalence did not significant differ by sociodemographic (p>0.05) CONCLUSION: The prevalence of mental disorders was slight high. The rates of untreated mental disorders necessitate the healthcare makers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to implement efficient strategies to halt the progression of untreated mental disorders.