Post-COVID-19 increases in depression and other psychiatric disorders among Saudi children and adolescents

TL;DR

The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased rates of depression and other mental health issues among Saudi children and adolescents.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the mental health impact of the pandemic on Saudi youth compared to regional and global trends.

Findings

Depressive and anxiety disorders increased significantly after the pandemic.

Sleep–wake and feeding disorders also showed marked increases post-pandemic.

The findings align with trends observed in the Gulf region and internationally.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic produced unprecedented disruption in the daily lives of children and adolescents worldwide, increasing vulnerability to emotional and behavioural difficulties.

To evaluate changes in psychiatric diagnostic patterns among pediatric referrals before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in a large Saudi tertiary healthcare system and compare these trends with Gulf and international findings.

A retrospective cross-sectional review was conducted of new psychiatric referrals aged 3–18 years at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH), Dhahran. Pre-pandemic data included all referrals from 2019. Post-pandemic service-recovery data included referrals from January–November 2021. Routine psychiatric outpatient clinics were fully suspended during 2020 due to institutional COVID-19 emergency policy, meaning no routine outpatient psychiatric referrals occurred that year. To avoid bias associated with service suspension, 2020 was excluded from analysis. Diagnoses were grouped using ICD-10 categories. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied.

Significant increases were observed in depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, sleep–wake disorders, feeding and eating disorders, and total psychiatric referrals after the pandemic. These findings closely parallel Gulf regional and international literature.

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with marked increases in psychiatric morbidity among Saudi youth. Expanded screening, early intervention and service capacity are required to mitigate long-term impact.

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