Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Primary Care Physicians in Makkah Al Mukarramah Regarding the Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background
In the global community, depression comes among the top 10 disorders in causing disability, and PCPs are in close contact with patients most of the time. However, existing knowledge, attitudes, and practices remain inadequate, particularly when assuming work in resource-limited and culturally diverse context including Makkah Al Mukarramah.
Objective
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of PCPs regarding diagnosis and management of depressive disorders, Their perceived barriers and facilitators to care, And to gain insights into achievable improvement interventions to mental health services in primary care.
Methods
A questionnaire-survey study was carried out on a sample of one hundred and two PCPs which includes family physicians, and general internists attending the PHÇ in Makkah City. Assigned demographic questions as well as questions related to cues, diagnosis, and treatment of depression, and barriers to their practice were addressed through a structured self-completed questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted using the program SPSS version 21.
Results
Therefore, 63.7% patients had moderate knowledge of malignancies with the mean knowledge being 16.5 ± 2.4.” Mean attitude score was 30.9 ± 3.2 out of a maximum of 45; 64.7% students had a neutral attitude. Their practice mean score was 4.4 ± 0.97 and the majority of the candidates, 84.3% described their practice level as high. It was also established that the practice scores were highly related to age at prácticcé, = 0.018 while the attitude scores were also indicated to have a relaciónship with years of expéeriénce, = 0.033 . Major perceived constraints involved patient fears regarding adverse effects of the medication (87.3%) and the time constraint (86.3%) for a doctor’s appointment.
Conclusion
There was moderate knowledge and neutral attitude among the PCPs toward depression, but their clinical skills were remarkable. Knowledge gaps, attitudes, and barriers related to mentoring and mental health resources in targeted training and systemic interventions need further development and better implementation.