Preliminary Psychiatric Observations in Egypt

International journal of health sciences, 2009

To study all psychiatric referrals by General Practitioners (GPs) to the psychiatric service at Al-Ain Hospital for 7 years starting from July 1997 till December 2003. The study examined the appropriateness of referrals and the quality of information presented in the referral document. Also, it studied the outcome of this referral including the response of the psychiatrist.

International Review of Psychiatry, 2012

The family is the basic unit of any society and culture. The concept, structure, and function of the family unit vary considerably across different cultures; however, its role continues to be imperative to the development of individuals and their psychological make-up. All societies have a concept of ' family ' , its relative importance, structure, and functions; however, this varies according to the particular culture. In the Arabic culture, as well as other collectivistic cultures, the extended family is often regarded as the basic unit. The family is the foundational and basic social unit that fosters the stability, well-being and sustainability of society. The quality of family relationships shapes and infl uences the social, psychological, and biological development and functioning of its members. This may be especially relevant to individuals with mental health problems. The people of ancient Egypt valued family life highly, and this is the case even now. They treasured children and regarded them as a great blessing. If a couple had no children, they would pray to the gods and goddesses for help. They would also place letters at the tombs of dead relatives asking them to use their infl uence with the gods. The importance of family has not changed dramatically even though the structures are beginning to. In this paper we highlight changes in family setup and the state of family therapy in Egypt.

Bahrain Medical Bulletin, 2015

Method: Three hundred twenty-nine patients were included in the study from March to September 2013. The inclusion criteria were 18-65 years and those who had first contact with the psychiatric hospital. Patients with a known history of substance abuse were excluded. Result: Eighteen cases were not diagnosed to have any psychiatric illnesses. The majority of the patients suffered from depression 104 (33.4%), anxiety disorders 62 (19.9%), and psychotic disorders 46 (14.8%). Conclusion: Those at risk of developing mental illness were females, adolescents and those with poor education and income. Future studies should include in-patient admissions as well as other hospitals in Bahrain.

2005

Chapter 1 General introduction Chapter 2 Review of literature Chapter 3 An analysis of psychiatric referrals, Saudi Arabia Chapter 4 Psychiatric referrals: in primary care and general hospitals in Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia Chapter 5 Psychiatric co-morbidity in primary care and hospital referrals, Saudi Arabia Chapter 6 Psychotropic drug prescriptions in primary care and general hospitals, in Saudi Arabia Chapter 7 Quality of psychiatric referrals: structural equation modeling approach Chapter 8 Integration of mental health into primary care in Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: planning phase I Chapter 9 Integration of mental health into primary care in Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: curriculum development II Chapter 10 Effectiveness of a training programme for general practitioners directed at the enhancement of psychiatric knowledge and change of unfavorable attitudes against psychiatry Chapter 11 General discussion Summary Summary in Arabic language Acknowledgements Curriculum vitae Author's other publications 8 14 than 30 per 1000 live birth. More than 94% of Saudi children are immunized against common diseases, and plans are now underway to inoculate all of them (100%). Further a network of advanced hospitals and specialized treatment facilities including Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Applied Sciences and Health Sciences back these centers and clinics. Strategically placed in major urban and semi-urban areas throughout the country to be accessible to all, they constitute the second tier of the Saudi health plan. In 1970 there were 74 hospitals with 9039 beds in the KSA. By the end of 2003, those numbers had grown to more than 335 and 48,000, respectively. At present, there are approximately 101 private hospitals in the KSA and total pharmacies are more than 794. 1.3.4. Role of the Ministry of Health (MOH) The MOH bears primary responsibility for the Kingdom's health care program. It operates 62 percent of the country's hospitals and 53 percent of its PHC clinics and centers. The majority of the remaining hospitals and clinics is belonging to the private sector. The functions of these facilities and the training of their staff are supervised and supported by the MOH. Other government agencies, such as the Ministries of Education and Defense, the National Guard and the Public Security Administration have their own hospitals and clinics. Under the Fifth Development Plan (1990-94), the MOH administered 1392 billion U.S. dollars for the health sector. The funds were used for the establishment of new facilities and improving the health care at existing ones. The KSA is committed to raise the quality of health service to its citizens. It is reflected in the fact that while the number of hospitals and PHC clinics and centers rose more than fivefold between 1970 and 2003, the number of physicians employed at these facilities rose more than 21-fold to 31,980. The nursing and technical staff grew more than 16-fold to 67,421 and 37,656, respectively. The qualitative improvement in the KSA health care is also evident by the number of specialized hospitals now operating in the Kingdom. By 2003, of the 194 hospitals falling under the responsibility of the MOH, more than 16 specialized in obstetrics and gynecology, seven in treating respiratory ailments, 16 in psychiatric care, four in drug abuse and addictions, two in eye diseases, one in contagious diseases and six with convalescent facilities. Now, almost all specialized hospitals in the 15 KSA have psychiatric clinics and inpatients facilities for mental patients. Furthermore, approximately 30% of general hospitals also have such facilities. By 2003, the total health manpower in the KSA includes 31,983 physicians, 3,673 dentists, 5,387 pharmacists, 67,421 nurses and 37,656 allied health personnel. 1.3.5. Mental Health Network and MOH According to 2002-2003 census, there are 16 psychiatric health hospitals and among them Taif Mental Health Hospital is the oldest and the largest mental health institution in the KSA. Three psychiatric sections within the general hospitals also provide inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services to those suffering from psychiatric comorbid disorders. There are more than 40 psychiatric clinics established in different specialist and general hospitals, which offer only outpatient services. The patients requiring admission are immediately referred to the nearest psychiatric hospital. With special reference to addictions, there are three Al-Amal Hospitals, one is located in Jeddah, the second in Riyadh and the third in Dammam. They provide integrated inpatient and outpatient services to patients with drug addictions. Additionally, Al-Qassim Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center [APRC] based on similar ideology provides addictive services to patients with drug abuse and addictions. In total, there are 2,700 psychiatric beds distributed across sixteen hospitals in the KSA. In 2002/3, approximately more than 47,500 mental patients consulted psychiatric clinics and more than 11,000 patients received inpatient care. The total number of psychiatrists is about 270 and among them only 10% are Saudis. The other 90% psychiatrists mainly come from Arab world countries. Paramedical staff includes 1,500 psychiatric nurses, 245 clinical psychologists and 600 social workers. In addition, all universities and their regional branches have specialist hospitals with psychiatric division that provide inpatient and outpatient services. As regards MHC, private sector is also developing fast. Most private general hospitals and polyclinics in the KSA have psychiatric clinics mostly offering outpatient services. Overall, MHC system is not at par with the general and specialist hospital system in the KSA and there is a further need to expand considerably

International Review of Psychiatry, 2019

Little is known about psychiatric education among the Arab countries. This article aims at giving an overview on the current situation regarding the availability and quality of psychiatric undergraduate, postgraduate, and specialized training programmes in different Arab countries. A brief questionnaire was developed by the authors to assess the presence and duration of each programme as well as the teaching and assessment methods used. All participating countries reported having undergraduate programmes for medical students, most of them ranging from 3-7 weeks. A variety of teaching methods and objective assessment methods are used to evaluate the students. The duration of psychiatry residency training ranges from 3-5 years in the participating countries. All participating Arab countries have a national board of psychiatry in addition to the Arab board of psychiatry to certify the residency training programmes. Egypt offers a High Diploma, Master, and Doctorate (MD) degrees in psychiatry. Many residency training programmes in some Arab countries are based on and accredited from the American Board of Psychiatry and others are based on the Royal College of Psychiatrists curriculum in the UK. Great progress has been made in the past few years both in undergraduate and postgraduate psychiatric education among the different counties in the Arab world. However, still more effort is needed in order to reach standardization compared with other countries.

2019

BackgroundEpidemiological studies, describing both community and clinical samples of youth in need for psychiatric help, are rare in the middle east. To our knowledge, this is the first study that aims to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of a sample of children suffering from emotional and behavioral problems seeking psychiatric services in the Nile Delta region and the largest clinical sample to date in Egypt.MethodsThe files of all new cases who presented for care in the outpatient service for children and adolescents between August 2016 and July 2018 were reviewed. Ninety-six files were excluded due to missing data while another 18 files were found to be for adults (ages > 18 years old), so the sample included 886 cases.ResultsThe ages of our sample (n = 886) ranged from 18 months to 18 years with an average of 7.5 (± 3.8) years. Most of our cases were male, school aged children, living within low-income households and predominantly coming from rural ar...

Editorial board

Background: In-patient treatment of psychiatric patients plays an important role in their management. The number of beds available for patients with mental disorders is limited in Turkey. However, some of these patients do require prolonged stay at the hospital. Hence the psychiatric clinics/units of medical schools are trying to meet this important deficit. The aim of this study was to evaluate socio-demographic characteristics and find out the disease pattern along with therapeutic approaches in all hospitalized patients over the last four years.

Middle East Current Psychiatry, 2011

This article looks at the evidence that not only did mental health problems affect people in the past, but that the physicians of past eras made numerous attempts to understand, classify and treat mental illness. Our aim is to show the strong scientific reasoning during the medieval era, in the Islamic world in particular, and how the complexities encountered by physicians centuries ago still haunt psychiatrists today.