RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Childhood anxiety disorders prevalence in Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 91
OP 94
DO 10.15537/smj.2021.1.25624
VO 42
IS 1
A1 Sulhi A. Alfakeh
A1 Abdulelah A. Gadah
A1 Khaled A. Alharbi
A1 Fadi M. Jan
A1 Mutasem S. Hejazi
A1 Omar K. Addas
A1 Mohammed K. Alamoudi
A1 Ahmed I. Al Taifi
YR 2021
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/42/1/91.abstract
AB Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of childhood anxiety disorders in Saudi Arabia.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study, between September and November 2019, in Saudi Arabia. The study group included the parents of 468 primary school children, aged 6-12 years. Parents completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) screening instrument, translated to Arabic. The measured outcome was the prevalence of childhood anxiety disorders, determined from the scores on the SCARED instrument.Results: Childhood anxiety disorders prevalence were as follows: 32.7% had one anxiety, 18.4% had 2, 10.9% had 3, 8.1% had 4, and 7.7% had 5. Of note, 22.2% of children did not have an anxiety disorder.Conclusion: Our results reveal a high prevalence of childhood anxiety disorders among primary school age children in Saudi Arabia. Based on these findings, conducting awareness campaigns and providing educational programs on childhood anxiety disorders might be important to improve the health outcomes of children.