Abstract
Objective: To measure the effect of mental health training program on the ability of PHC physicians to detect and manage mental illnesses.
Method: It is an intervention study carried out in Dammam Sector, Saudi Arabia. The course was implemented in June 1999, and ran over 4 days. A random sample of 31 PHC physicians was selected. The area of study was divided into five clusters, from which ten physicians were selected randomly to evaluate their skills in diagnosis and pattern of managementsof mental disorders in PHC settings. File audit was used through the period of six months prior, and six months after the course, in order to evaluate the training effect on the physicians' performance. Every physician acted as his/her own control.
Results: The total number of psychiatric cases detected by the ten physicians during the first 6-month period was 20 cases out of about 60,000 PHC patients. Following the course, during the last six-month period, 21 psychiatric cases were detected (3.5 cases in every 10,000 patients). According to the results, the trained physicians were able to diagnose more generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and sexual disorder, at the expense of non-specified mental disorders. The majority of cases were referred to psychiatric clinics.
Conclusion: A shorter-term mental health-training program didn't enable PHC physicians to detect the minor mental health problems. There is a need for an advanced and long-term mental health-training course, focusing on the practical application of identifying mental illness among PHC patients.