JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 period can potentially be categorized as a traumatic event. Public health surveillance is one of the cornerstones of public health practice and it empowers decision-makers to lead and manage public health crises and programs more effectively by providing timely, useful evidence.

Objective:

To identify, track, and monitor trends of the populations at risk of major depressive disorders and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

This study utilizes continuous cross-sectional national level mental health screening via computer-assisted phone interviews, conducted in four waves on a monthly basis (between May and August 2020). Arabic-speaking adults, aged 18 years and above, from Saudi Arabia, will be recruited via a random phone list. This surveillance system will use the proportional quota sampling technique to achieve an equal distribution of participants, stratified by age and gender, and region, within and across the 13 administrative regions of Saudi Arabia. A sample size of 4,056 participants per wave was calculated to achieve enough power to detect changes in mental health status. The questionnaire includes the Arabic version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to measure depressive symptoms and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) to measure anxiety, in addition it collects sociodemographic, and potential risk factors data.

Results:

The trial recruitment started in May 2020. Data collection is currently ongoing.

Conclusions:

The monitoring of population mental health status during the COVID-19 epidemic will inform decision-makers about any potential deterioration in mental health on a national level and among subgroups including regions, age groups and gender groups. It will allow the decision makers to signal issues and intervene early. Mental health surveillance systems can be utilized in various situations by different professional groups, including public health and mental health practitioners, academics, and decision-makers. The MHSS is expected to provide accurate and timely information about mental health to decision makers in Saudi Arabia on a monthly basis.