Changes in the provision of psychiatric beds and incarceration in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from 1990 to 2022.

Background: Psychiatric bed numbers (general, forensic, and residential) and prison populations are considered indicators of institutionalization. The present study aimed to assess trends in institutional mental health care and incarceration, measured through psychiatric bed availability and prison population rates, across the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) from 1990 to 2022.

Methods: We obtained retrospective data on psychiatric bed numbers and prison populations from 22 countries between 1990 and 2022.

Clinically actionable pharmacogenomic landscape of antidepressants and antipsychotics in Qatar: a population-based cohort study.

Consortia like the Clinical Pharmacogenetic Implementation Consortium (CPIC) and the Dutch Pharmacogenetic Working Group (DPWG) provide clinical guidelines but pharmacogenomics implementation depends on population prevalence of actionable genetic variants and response phenotypes. We analyzed the distribution of actionable genetic variants and clinical recommendations in 14,354 adult Qataris, focusing only genes with guidelines (, , and ). Haplotypes and diplotypes were generated from 490 alleles using whole genome data and metabolizer phenotypes were predicted based on current knowledge.

Mental health and psychotropic medication trends during the COVID-19 pandemic in a middle eastern population: A systematic analysis of electronic medical records from Qatar.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on the mental health of populations. We aimed in this examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and treatment of mental health disorders (MHDs), with a specific focus on patterns of psychotropic medication prescriptions in Qatar. It provides critical insights into the dynamics of mental healthcare during global crises.

Religion and mental health: an Eastern Mediterranean region perspective.

In the last decade, spirituality gained increasing recognition, with an individualized approach to the significance of symptoms and the purpose of treatment. Many psychiatrists started adopting the term "biopsychosocial-spiritual" management. Modern psychological therapies have drawn from the principles of ancient Eastern traditions.

Mortality in Qatari individuals with mental illness: a retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: There is substantial evidence that people with mental illness have higher mortality rates than the general population. However, most of the studies were from Western countries, and it is not clear whether this finding also applies to Arab countries like Qatar.

Objectives: We aimed to explore whether mortality in patients with mental illness in Qatar, is different from those without.

Psychiatry in Qatar.

The first article written about psychiatric services in Qatar was published in in 2006. Since then, the health system in Qatar has undergone significant transformation in the areas of service delivery, research and education. International accreditations are sought in all these fields to emphasise the standard achieved.

First Episode of Psychosis in the Context of Varenicline Treatment for Smoking Cessation.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. Several pharmacological therapies have been established over the years to aid in smoking cessation, including Varenicline, a partial nicotine agonist. Neuropsychiatric adverse events have been reported in patients treated with Varenicline.

Analysis of the mental health service provision in Qatar: Progressing in community mental health in a Middle East country.

Background: Qatari health planning in the last decade aimed to make the transition from the traditional hospital-based psychiatric care to a community-based care, building an integrated and comprehensive mental health system. The objective of this study was to explore the mental health service provision in Qatar in 2018 and 2022. This time span coincided with two mental health plans (2013-2018 and 2019-2022) and one health plan (2018-2022).

Knowledge, attitude, and practice related to COVID-19: A comparison between patients with mental illness and the general population in Qatar.

Background: In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic. The rapid spread and high fatalities associated with COVID-19 have increased interest in assessing Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) toward this illness among the general population in comparison to specific subgroups. Most publications to date have explored KAP among the general public, healthcare providers, and people with chronic conditions, but not amongst those with mental illness.

Healthcare Professionals' Attitudes Toward Patients With Mental Illness: A Cross-Sectional Study in Qatar.

Background: Negative attitudes toward mental illness by Health Care Professionals (HCP) have been reported in many countries across the world. Stigmatizing attitudes by HCP can have adverse consequences on people with mental illness from delays in seeking help to decreased quality of care provided. Assessing such attitudes is an essential step in understanding such stigma and, if needed, developing and testing appropriate and culturally adapted interventions to reduce it.

Proteomic Analysis of Plasma Markers in Patients Maintained on Antipsychotics: Comparison to Patients Off Antipsychotics and Normal Controls.

Background: Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share many features: overlap in mood and psychotic symptoms, common genetic predisposition, treatment with antipsychotics (APs), and similar metabolic comorbidities. The pathophysiology of both is still not well defined, and no biomarkers can be used clinically for diagnosis and management. This study aimed to assess the plasma proteomics profile of patients with SZ and BD maintained on APs compared to those who had been off APs for 6 months and to healthy controls (HCs).

Burnout among pharmacy professionals in Qatar: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Pharmacists' roles and responsibilities have expanded in the modern pharmacy profession, and the expectations from pharmacists have increased. This has been associated with new psychological challenges and emotional stress that can induce burnout.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome and factors associated with burnout among pharmacy professionals in the healthcare system in Qatar.

Physical and Psychosocial Well-Being of Hospitalized and Non-Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 Compared to the General Population in Qatar.

Many studies have shown a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in COVID-19 patients and the general population. However, very few studies directly examined the potential impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and none compared HRQoL in COVID-19 patients to the general population amid the pandemic. We carried out a cross-sectional study comparing HRQoL (as measured using the RAND Short Form 36 or SF-36 Health Survey) in randomly selected individuals from three different groups: hospitalized COVID-19 patients, quarantined COVID-19 patients, and controls from the general population in Qatar.

Prescription Pattern and Off-Label Use of Antipsychotics in a Middle Eastern Population.

Understanding the prescription pattern of medications in a population can help reveal the potential usage scenarios, including off-label prescriptions, and the need for precision medicine implementation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prescription pattern and off-label use of antipsychotics in the Qatari population. We performed a cross-sectional study of Qatari patients who received antipsychotic prescriptions from the major healthcare providers in the country during the 2-year period between June 2018 and May 2020.

Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Stigma impacts persons with mental illness (PWMI), their families and network of friends, the public and health care professionals. Stigma is a major barrier for PWMI to seeking treatment, which contributes to the burden of disease, disability, and mortality. Research on stigma is relatively scant in the Middle East region and particularly in Qatar.

Prescription Pattern of Antidepressants and the Potential for Personalized Medicine in the Qatari Population.

Studying the prescription pattern of medications will help in understanding potential unnecessary prescriptions, due to the trial-and-error method of prescribing, and the need for personalized medicine in a population. Therefore, in this study, our aim was to explore the prescribing pattern and off-label use of antidepressants in the Qatari population. We conducted a retrospective study of Qatari patients who received prescriptions for antidepressants from the major healthcare providers in Qatar, for a period of 24 months between June 2018 and May 2020.

Testing a multicomponent lifestyle intervention for combatting childhood obesity.

Background: Childhood obesity is a major global health concern. Weight-management camps involving delivery of a program of physical activity, health education, and healthy eating are an effective treatment, although post-intervention weight-management is less well understood. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of a weight-management camp followed by a community intervention in supporting weight-management for overweight children and children with obesity.

Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar.

Objective: Even though all guidelines recommend generally against antipsychotic polypharmacy, antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be a very common practice across the globe. This study aimed to examine the prescription patterns of antipsychotics in Qatar, in comparison with the international guidelines, and to scrutinize the sociodemographic and clinical features associated with antipsychotic polypharmacy.

Methods: All the medical records of all the inpatients and outpatients treated by antipsychotics at the Department of Psychiatry-Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Doha, Qatar (between October 2012 and April 2014) were retrospectively analyzed.

A Recessively Inherited Risk Locus on Chromosome 13q22-31 Conferring Susceptibility to Schizophrenia.

We report a consanguineous family in which schizophrenia segregates in a manner consistent with recessive inheritance of a rare, partial-penetrance susceptibility allele. From 4 marriages between 2 sets of siblings who are half first cousins, 6 offspring have diagnoses of psychotic disorder. Homozygosity mapping revealed a 6.