Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among patients presents an essential and increasing mental health concern for which prevalence data are needed. The aim of the present study was to measure the prevalence of GAD among patients attending primary health care (PHC) and its association with sociodemographic factors and mental disorders.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adult patients at Security Forces Hospital. An Arabic self-administered questionnaire composed of two parts: sociodemographic data (age, gender, medical history of GAD diagnosis, and psychiatric comorbidities) and the 7-item generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7) scale.
Results: A total of 386 individuals participated in our questionnaire, of whom 53.1% were males and the remainder 46.9% were females. According to the GAD-7 questionnaire, the overall prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was 12.7%. However, the prevalence of anxiety severity was as follows: 56.2% had no or minimal anxiety, 31.1% had mild anxiety, 8.8% had moderate anxiety, and 3.9% had severe anxiety. Females had a significantly higher mean GAD score (15.7% times higher) compared to males in general. Patients with a previous diagnosis of GAD or co-occurring mental disorders had a higher mean GAD score compared to patients not known to have mental disorders.
Conclusion: The present study found the overall prevalence of GAD to be 12.7%. Further studies are needed in various cities.
Key words: Generalized anxiety disorder, primary health care, Saudi Arabia.
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