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The attitude towards depression among primary health care physicians in Dammam and Alkhobar areas, eastern province, Saudi Arabia
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Introduction: Although general practitioners (GPs) can identify depression many patients
remain untreated due to causes other than lack of clinical skills. Negative attitudes of primary
care clinicians could influence treatment including a lack of confidence, difficulty in
communication and using interpreter services, and not sharing the same cultural background
as the patient.
Diagnostic studies revealed that primary care physicians or family physicians either over- or
underdiagnose depressive disorders. Many attempts have been made to train or educate
physicians to improve identification and diagnosis of depression. However, the outcomes were
disappointing. The problem of diagnosing depression diagnosis may not just be a result of
knowledge gap or inadequate clinical skills in the primary care physicians but also due to the
doctors’ attitude.
There is evidence that GP’s who complete mental health training have more positive attitudes
towards depressed patients and higher levels of confidence in diagnosing common mental
disorders, and a successful screening program in primary healthcare can be a cost-effective
strategy for early detection of depression because it is the first line of contact between health
system and the people.
Aim: This study aimed to explore the attitude of PHC (Primary Health Care) physicians in
Dammam and AL Khobar area, Saudi Arabia towards depression using the Revised Depression
Attitude Questionnaire (R-DAQ).
Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on all PHC centers in AL Khobar and
Dammam regions. The study population included all medical practitioners working in the PHC
clinics of the Ministry of Health, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data was collected between July
01, 2019 to October 01, 2019. Demographic data collected included gender, age, marital status,
nationality, job title, previous mental health training, personal history of depression and family
history. Attitude to depression was assessed using the 22 item Revised Depression Attitude
Questionnaire (R-DAQ).
Results: Of the 197 (89%) responders 35.5% were male, 64.5% female. The majority were aged
30-40 years with 7.1% over 50 years old. 83% of participants were Saudi, 87.1% were married,
43.4% were GP’s, 3.1% were consultants and 55% reported no previous training in mental
health. 1% of participants reported a previous history of depression and 5% reported a family
history of depression.
This study found no gender differences in the mean scores of attitudes towards depression. A
positive attitude to depression was associated with being a specialist, being younger and
having previous mental health training.
Conclusions: Attitudes to depression may be improved by establishing a training intervention
to improve professional confidence in managing depression, and the assessment and
management of suicidal ideas and focusing on older physicians who had no or little previous
training Qualitative research should be conducted to explore the reasons behind
misconceptions about depression care among PHC’s physicians and the association between
cultural misconceptions and attitudes may neet to be addressed in the future research.
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Depression Attitude Primary care Physicians Saudi