Abstract :
Objective: To explore the prevalence of minor psychiatric symptoms among school teachers in Baish area, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Subjects and Methods: This is cross-sectional study that included 303 teachers (165 males and 138 females) at Baish area, KSA. The Arabic version of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) was used to quantify the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. Results: The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms (probable cases) among study teachers was very high (62.4%). The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was significantly higher among females than males (70.3% and 55.8%, respectively, p 0.001). Prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was significantly higher among young teachers ( 30 years) than older ones (73.7%, p 0.001). Saudi teachers expressed higher prevalence of psychiatric symptoms (63.2%) than non-Saudi teachers (55.9%), though difference of psychiatric symptoms according to nationality was not statistically significant. Teachers who were living in urban areas expressed higher prevalence of psychiatric symptoms (63.3%) than those who were living in rural areas (62.1%), though difference in prevalence of psychiatric symptoms according to residence was not statistically significant. Teachers with least experience in education expressed highest prevalence of psychiatric symptoms (73.6%, p 0.001). Conclusions: The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms among teachers in Baish is high. The main determinants of high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms are female gender, younger age, short teaching experience and Saudi nationality. This high prevalence should attract the attention of primary health care practitioners to provide more attention toward teachers mental health in Baish and other similar areas. Teachers should be advised to follow stress-coping and training programs, especially for females, and young teachers.
