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Objectives: The World Mental Health Qatar (WMHQ) study, the first national general population mental health survey in Qatar, was conducted as part of the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. It was one of the few WMH survey conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This paper presents the methodological advances and challenges encountered while conducting the survey by telephone during the pandemic. Methods: Disproportionate stratified sampling using a national‐level cellular telephone frame selected a representative sample of Arabic‐speaking adults. Participants were initially contacted via Short Message Service text, followed by telephone interviews. WMH training materials supported a comprehensive training program, and data quality was ensured through a quality control indicator system and extensive monitoring. Results: Over 234 days, 5195 interviews in Arabic were completed, averaging 77 min each. In line with Qatar's population, the majority of participants were non‐Qatari residents living in Qatar (72.2%). Conclusions: A distributed remote Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing system facilitated centralized quality monitoring and data security. However, the pandemic intensified challenges such as remote management of interviewer productivity, low response rates, and rising survey costs. The findings will inform Qatar's mental health policymakers, and the strategies used to address these challenges offer valuable insights for researchers worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We investigated the feasibility of replacing face‐to‐face with telephone interviews conducted as part of the World Mental Health Qatar (WMHQ) survey and discuss the main methodological changes across the two pilots that were subsequently implemented in the full‐scale WMHQ telephone survey. Methods: We assessed the net mode effect by comparing the lifetime prevalence estimates of the main mental disorder classes (mood and anxiety disorders) and a number of disorders across the two survey pilots conducted prior to and post‐pandemic. Results: The main differences in terms of methodology for both pilots stemmed from differences in the survey mode, including questionnaire length, study recruitment method, and fielding team size and structure. These factors influenced response rates and costs. However, the lifetime prevalence estimates and other key indicators of survey results did not differ across modes. Conclusions: Our findings confirm the comparability of data collected via telephone and face‐to‐face modes, supporting the adoption of telephone surveys for future mental health studies, particularly in the context of pandemics. They also confirm the feasibility of changing or mixing modes depending on field conditions in future psychiatric epidemiological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has strongly reaffirmed the critical importance of labor migration to the global economy, even as it has raised questions about the temporary migration programs responsible for much of this migration. In the Arab Gulf states – home to some of the world's highest proportions of migrants – the pandemic has highlighted critical structural weaknesses in the region's kafāla migration regimes. Drawing on two nationally representative surveys of Qatar's citizens and migrants conducted between October 2020 and June 2021, we argue that the Gulf's temporary migration regimes have shown resilience during the pandemic regarding flexibility, networks, and policies. However, Gulf states have gained this resilience at the expense of migrant workers, which threatens the sustainability of the kafāla in its current form. Nevertheless, we also identify key reforms undertaken in Qatar, which continued during the pandemic, and we find general acceptance of these reforms by citizens and business owners. Additionally, we find that Covid-19 has promoted recognition of the importance of migrant workers in the national labor supply, even if significant steps are still required to reduce migrant vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A small country in the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar experienced rapid economic growth in the last 3 decades accompanied by major socio‐demographic shifts towards a younger and more highly educated population. To date, no national epidemiological study has examined the prevalence, associated factors, or sequelae of mental disorders in Qatar's general population. Methods: The World Mental Health Qatar (WMHQ) is a national mental health needs assessment survey and is the first carried out in collaboration with the World Mental Health Survey initiative to assess the prevalence and burden of psychiatric illnesses among the full Arabic speaking population (nationals and non‐nationals) within the same country. Results: Standard translation and harmonization procedures were used to develop the WMHQ instrument. A survey quality control system with standard performance indicators was developed to ensure interviewer adherence to standard practices. A pilot study was then carried out just prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Endorsement from public health authorities and sequential revision of the interview schedule led to full survey completion (as opposed to partial completion) and good overall response rate. Conclusions: The WMHQ survey will provide timely and actionable information based on quality enhancement procedures put in place during the development and piloting of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global COVID-19 pandemic containment necessitates understanding the risk of hesitance or resistance to vaccine uptake in different populations. The Middle East and North Africa currently lack vital representative vaccine hesitancy data. We conducted the first representative national phone survey among the adult population of Qatar, between December 2020 and January 2021, to estimate the prevalence and identify potential determinants of vaccine willingness: acceptance (strongly agree), resistance (strongly disagree), and hesitance (somewhat agree, neutral, somewhat disagree). Bivariate and multinomial logistic regression models estimated associations between willingness groups and fifteen variables. In the total sample, 42.7% (95% CI: 39.5–46.1) were accepting, 45.2% (95% CI: 41.9–48.4) hesitant, and 12.1% (95% CI: 10.1–14.4) resistant. Vaccine resistant compared with hesistant and accepting groups reported no endorsement source will increase vaccine confidence (58.9% vs. 5.6% vs. 0.2%, respectively). Female gender, Arab ethnicity, migrant status/type, and vaccine side-effects concerns were associated with hesitancy and resistance. COVID-19 related bereavement, infection, and quarantine status were not significantly associated with any willingness group. Absence of or lack of concern about contracting the virus was solely associated with resistance. COVID-19 vaccine resistance, hesitance, and side-effects concerns are high in Qatar's population compared with those globally. Urgent public health engagement should focus on women, Qataris (non-migrants), and those of Arab ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]