The Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Services at King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences

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Abstract

Background: The mental health of college students, especially medical students, is a major issue worldwide. Depression and anxiety are among the top causes of death among people aged 15-29 years old. Mental health disorders, especially mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, are common among university students. Psychological problems can negatively impact academic performance and life satisfaction. The earlier mental illness is detected, the better the treatment and outcome. The aim of this study is to determine the barriers among students to seeking mental health services.

Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The cross-sectional questionnaire-based study involved 434 students: 72.1% men and 27.9% women. This study had a response rate of 28.5% and responses were gathered in May 2023.

Results: The top three barriers identified in this study were “Feeling that my problems are not important,” “Concern that no one will understand my problems,” and “Difficulty with access to care.” The majority of students reported feeling “I feel reluctance a little” to use mental health services; 31.4% chose “I need it a little” when asked whether they needed to use mental health services. Furthermore, 34.8% of students reported having mild anxiety, and 34.1% reported having mild depression.

Conclusion: Mental illness is a serious issue, which is why medical students should be aware of it to improve their quality of life and reduce the stress and obstacles they face. Medical schools should address awareness of mental illness and how to approach a clinic. This is important for students to succeed and overcome the psychological difficulties that might affect academic performance. In addition, recognizing the barriers will help achieve better outcomes in seeking help and utilizing existing services.

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Most cited references 23

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The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure.

K Kroenke, R L Spitzer, J. Williams (2001)

While considerable attention has focused on improving the detection of depression, assessment of severity is also important in guiding treatment decisions. Therefore, we examined the validity of a brief, new measure of depression severity. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) is a self-administered version of the PRIME-MD diagnostic instrument for common mental disorders. The PHQ-9 is the depression module, which scores each of the 9 DSM-IV criteria as "0" (not at all) to "3" (nearly every day). The PHQ-9 was completed by 6,000 patients in 8 primary care clinics and 7 obstetrics-gynecology clinics. Construct validity was assessed using the 20-item Short-Form General Health Survey, self-reported sick days and clinic visits, and symptom-related difficulty. Criterion validity was assessed against an independent structured mental health professional (MHP) interview in a sample of 580 patients. As PHQ-9 depression severity increased, there was a substantial decrease in functional status on all 6 SF-20 subscales. Also, symptom-related difficulty, sick days, and health care utilization increased. Using the MHP reinterview as the criterion standard, a PHQ-9 score > or =10 had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 88% for major depression. PHQ-9 scores of 5, 10, 15, and 20 represented mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression, respectively. Results were similar in the primary care and obstetrics-gynecology samples. In addition to making criteria-based diagnoses of depressive disorders, the PHQ-9 is also a reliable and valid measure of depression severity. These characteristics plus its brevity make the PHQ-9 a useful clinical and research tool.

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Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection.

Kurt Kroenke, Robert L Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams … (2007)

Anxiety, although as common as depression, has received less attention and is often undetected and undertreated. To determine the current prevalence, impairment, and comorbidity of anxiety disorders in primary care and to evaluate a brief measure for detecting these disorders. Criterion-standard study performed between November 2004 and June 2005. 15 U.S. primary care clinics. 965 randomly sampled patients from consecutive clinic patients who completed a self-report questionnaire and agreed to a follow-up telephone interview. 7-item anxiety measure (Generalized Anxiety Disorder [GAD]-7 scale) in the clinic, followed by a telephone-administered, structured psychiatric interview by a mental health professional who was blinded to the GAD-7 results. Functional status (Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-20), depressive and somatic symptoms, and self-reported disability days and physician visits were also assessed. Of the 965 patients, 19.5% (95% CI, 17.0% to 22.1%) had at least 1 anxiety disorder, 8.6% (CI, 6.9% to 10.6%) had posttraumatic stress disorder, 7.6% (CI, 5.9% to 9.4%) had a generalized anxiety disorder, 6.8% (CI, 5.3% to 8.6%) had a panic disorder, and 6.2% (CI, 4.7% to 7.9%) had a social anxiety disorder. Each disorder was associated with substantial impairment that increased significantly (P < 0.001) as the number of anxiety disorders increased. Many patients (41%) with an anxiety disorder reported no current treatment. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that both the GAD-7 scale and its 2 core items (GAD-2) performed well (area under the curve, 0.80 to 0.91) as screening tools for all 4 anxiety disorders. The study included a nonrandom sample of selected primary care practices. Anxiety disorders are prevalent, disabling, and often untreated in primary care. A 2-item screening test may enhance detection.

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Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge.

Vikram Patel, Alan J Flisher, Sarah J. Hetrick … (2007)

Mental disorders account for a large proportion of the disease burden in young people in all societies. Most mental disorders begin during youth (12-24 years of age), although they are often first detected later in life. Poor mental health is strongly related to other health and development concerns in young people, notably lower educational achievements, substance abuse, violence, and poor reproductive and sexual health. The effectiveness of some interventions for some mental disorders in this age-group have been established, although more research is urgently needed to improve the range of affordable and feasible interventions, since most mental-health needs in young people are unmet, even in high-income countries. Key challenges to addressing mental-health needs include the shortage of mental-health professionals, the fairly low capacity and motivation of non-specialist health workers to provide quality mental-health services to young people, and the stigma associated with mental disorder. We propose a population-based, youth focused model, explicitly integrating mental health with other youth health and welfare expertise. Addressing young people's mental-health needs is crucial if they are to fulfil their potential and contribute fully to the development of their communities.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Cureus

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Cureus

Journal ID (issn): 2168-8184

Title: Cureus

Publisher: Cureus (Palo Alto (CA) )

ISSN (Electronic): 2168-8184

Publication date (Electronic, pub): 15 September 2023

Publication date (Electronic, collection): September 2023

Volume: 15

Issue: 9

Electronic Location Identifier: e45321

Affiliations

[1 ] Psychiatry, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, SAU

[2 ] Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, SAU

[3 ] Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU

[4 ] Internal Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU

Author notes

Abdullah S. Basuliman a-basuliman@ 123456hotmail.com

Article

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.45321

PMC ID: 10577391

PubMed ID: 37849612

SO-VID: 54a2bb8f-7cca-47ef-98e8-590b7068c847

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This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Date accepted : 15 September 2023

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Special series on COVID-19 and Mental Health

Most cited references 23

The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure.

Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection.

Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge.

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