The Assessment of Geriatric Depression Among Primary Healthcare Physicians in Buraidah City, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND

The global geriatric population is increasing, leading to a higher prevalence of non-communicable diseases, including depression. This condition often remains underdiagnosed and untreated disease.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 130 primary healthcare physicians (PCPs) in Buraidah to assess their practices in diagnosing geriatric depression from March 2023 to March 2024. After ethical committee approval, data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire, entered, cleaned, and analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Version 21.0, Armonk, NY). Informed consent was obtained and the confidentiality of the participant information was maintained. Statistical tests, including the Chi-square test, were used for inference.

RESULTS

Out of 130 PCPs, 85.4% (n=111) were diagnosing depression during their clinical practice. The most common depression scale used in their regular practice was the patient health questionnaire (PHQ)-2 (70%, n=91), followed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (53.8%, n=70). Nearly 26.2% (n=34) of physicians responded that there is no need for routine lab tests for the diagnosis of depression. Concerning the initial plan of depression management, nearly 76.2% (n=99) of physicians preferred non-pharmacological treatment. Regarding barriers to diagnosis of depression in elderly patients, nearly 76.2% (n=99) mentioned the need for more training about geriatric depression, followed by 70% for both short consultation time and the need for Ministry of Health guidelines. There was a statistically significant association observed between <35 years of age group and a preference for a high percentage of pharmacological therapy (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the findings of the study, there was a good number (85.4%) of PCPs diagnosing depression in their clinics, and also three-fourths of the physicians (76.2%) preferred non-pharmacological treatment. Only one-fourth (26.2%) of the PCPs mentioned no lab is required for the diagnosis of depression.