Qatar's National Mental Health Study—The World Mental Health Qatar

Abstract

Background: We provide an overview of Qatar's first epidemiological study on prevalence, predictors, and treatment contact for mood and anxiety disorders. Aims: We highlight the importance of the three-pronged study, its aims, and its key components. Materials & Methods: The first component comprised a probability-based representative survey of Qatari and non-Qatari (Arab) adult males and females recruited from the general population and interviewed using the International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI version 3.3). The second component, a clinical reappraisal study, assessed concordance between diagnoses based on the CIDI and independent clinical assessments conducted by trained clinical interviewers. The third component comprised a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study of healthy survey respondents who were matched to patients with psychosis. Results: 5000 survey interviews provided data on prevalence and treatment of common mental disorders. Clinical re-interviews (N = 485) provided important diagnostic validity data. Finally, state-of-the art structural and functional brain markers for psychosis were also collected (N = 100). Discussion: Descriptive epidemiological data were collected to inform future mental health priorities in Qatar and situates these within a global context. Conclusion: The study fills important gaps in regional and global estimates and establish necessary baseline to develop comprehensive risk estimates for mental health in Qatar’s young population.