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Background <p>Mental health services are commonly delivered through psychiatric outpatient clinics within mental and general hospitals in Iraq. Mental health services faced many challenges, such as wars, economic sanctions, internal conflicts, and shortages of working power, leading to deterioration of the provided care. Objectives: This study aims to examine the clinical and workload characteristics of two psychiatric outpatient clinics in general and mental hospitals, focusing on the differences in clinical and service-related characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 650 patients attending the psychiatric outpatient clinics in Medical City Teaching Hospital and Ibn Rushd Mental Hospital located in Baghdad’s city center during 2024. The consenting participants were personally interviewed and completed the study questionnaires by the research team. The data collected were analyzed via descriptive statistical methods. Findings: The most prevalent mental disorders were depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Rushd Mental Hospital reported a higher prevalence of schizophrenia with high rates of chronicity than that of Medical City Teaching Hospital, while depression was more prevalent in the latter. Follow-up, workload, and patients’ satisfaction with the provided care were more prevalent in Ibn Rushd Mental Hospital than Medical City Teaching Hospital, reflecting the patient’s preferences for specialized psychiatric units, particularly for those with serious and chronic presentations. Both hospitals have no referral or appointment strategy. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the important mental health indicators that should be considered in planning to develop mental health services in Iraq by establishing more specialized psychiatric units and improving the existing services to face the growing numbers of patients. The implementation of community mental health care and mental health advocacy will help reduce social stigma and encourage more people in need of proper care. Further large-scale studies are needed to mend the data gap.</p>

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An overview of mental health services in general and specialized hospitals: a cross-sectional study from Iraq

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  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月10日

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  • Amina Jassim Saeed,
  • Maha Sulaiman Younis

摘要

Background

Mental health services are commonly delivered through psychiatric outpatient clinics within mental and general hospitals in Iraq. Mental health services faced many challenges, such as wars, economic sanctions, internal conflicts, and shortages of working power, leading to deterioration of the provided care. Objectives: This study aims to examine the clinical and workload characteristics of two psychiatric outpatient clinics in general and mental hospitals, focusing on the differences in clinical and service-related characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 650 patients attending the psychiatric outpatient clinics in Medical City Teaching Hospital and Ibn Rushd Mental Hospital located in Baghdad’s city center during 2024. The consenting participants were personally interviewed and completed the study questionnaires by the research team. The data collected were analyzed via descriptive statistical methods. Findings: The most prevalent mental disorders were depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Rushd Mental Hospital reported a higher prevalence of schizophrenia with high rates of chronicity than that of Medical City Teaching Hospital, while depression was more prevalent in the latter. Follow-up, workload, and patients’ satisfaction with the provided care were more prevalent in Ibn Rushd Mental Hospital than Medical City Teaching Hospital, reflecting the patient’s preferences for specialized psychiatric units, particularly for those with serious and chronic presentations. Both hospitals have no referral or appointment strategy. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the important mental health indicators that should be considered in planning to develop mental health services in Iraq by establishing more specialized psychiatric units and improving the existing services to face the growing numbers of patients. The implementation of community mental health care and mental health advocacy will help reduce social stigma and encourage more people in need of proper care. Further large-scale studies are needed to mend the data gap.