Clinical Audit Report on Mental Health Screening by nurses at a Primary Health Care Centre

Abstract

Mental health awareness is a vital part of a comprehensive National Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the entire population [1]. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in Qatar along with various stakeholders including PHCC are tasked with promoting and improving the delivery of Mental health services across the country as per Public Health Strategy 2017-2022 and the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 [2, 3]. The Qatar Global Burden of Disease 2010 reveals that major depressive disorder is the most burdensome disease in Qatar as per DALYs [4]. The WHO estimates about 30-50% patients attending primary care with depressive disorder are not detected and nearly two-thirds of people with a known mental disorder never seek help from a health professional due to stigma, discrimination, and negative stereotype [5]. Other reasons include limited time, access, affordability and lack of education and training. It was reported that an average delay between first symptoms presentation and intervention is approximately 11 years, which makes screening important as it allows for early identification and intervention. Recently MOPH launched Ma'ak Educational Program to enhance mental health and wellbeing in Qatar [6]. This can help bridge the gap and lead to better outcomes. Evidence suggests early treatment may also lessen long-term disability and suffering [7]. This Audit is done to review the adherence to mental health screening by nurses at our primary health care center (HC) and suggest measures to improve quality of patient care and health outcomes at PHCC if audit finds any gap in practice. A baseline audit sample of 354 health records was selected from the total volume of patients (18years and above) who were seen at nurses' station at our HC between 11th to 20th January 2023 and reviewed retrospectively against audit specific criterion. This data was then analysed to see how many of them had mental health screening performed using PHQ2 and GAD2 questionnaires. ..