ABSTRACT
Primary health care is an important source for referrals of patients with mental health problems to the psychiatric hospital in Bahrain. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the psychiatric hospital of Bahrain using all referrals by primary health care physicians to the hospital during one-year period, January to December 2006. A total of 215 referral forms were screened and the information was collected using a structured data form.The sample consisted of 81.9% adults and 18.1% children and adolescents. Depression was the most common diagnosis made by the primary care physician among the referred cases of adults [51%]. The most common psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents as diagnosed by the primary care physicians were Attention Deficient Disorder [23%] and Nocturnal enuresis [15%]. About 6% of cases were given antipsychotics in the primary health care. 95% of cases were followed up as outpatients in the psychiatric hospital. The overall agreement in original diagnosis made by the primary care physicians to the psychiatrist's final diagnosis for all referred cases was 47%. The most common psychiatric disorders among the referred patients from primary health care centers were Depression and Anxiety. The study revealed that the primary care physician diagnosis was concordant with the psychiatrists'diagnoses in 47% which is considered low, but is consistent with findings in other studies