INT’L. J. AGING AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, Vol. 50(1) 43-60, 2000 APPRAISAL OF CLINICAL, PSYCHOSOCIAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OF ELDERLY IN SAUDI ARABIA: A HOUSEHOLD SURVEY* SULAIMAN A. AL-SHAMMARI, FRCGP (UK) YAGOB AL MAZROU, FRCGP (UK) JAMAL S. JARALLAH, MRCGP (UK) LUBNA AL ANSARY, MRCGP (UK) M. EL SHABRAWY ALI, PH.D. (UK) ELIJAH A. BAMGBOYE, PH.D. (LOND) College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh ABSTRACT This was a cross-sectional national survey of the elderly population of Saudi Arabia conducted between January 1994 and December 1995. The participants’ physical, mental, social, and environmental health status were assessed in a personal interview during which a structured data form was completed by a trained research team. Data on 6,139 elderly participants have been analyzed: 64.2 percent were males mean age: 69.2 ± 7.8 years which was higher than females 68.0 ± 7.6 years (P < 0.0001). The widowhood (46.7%) status was also higher than the widowerhood (4.1%) and 9.3 percent of the participants were never married. The proportion of female illiterates (95.8%) was higher than the males (71.4%). The proportion of participants with definite psychopathology was 33.8 percent and this increased with age and higher among females than males. Overall, 18.8 percent were dependent on others for ADL. Other clinical findings included visual impairment (46.1%) and difficulty in hearing (19.9%). However, a sizeable majority (72.2%) enjoyed good health. Only 3.7 percent lived alone. The proportion of the elderly taking part in any recreational exercise was 14.7 percent and only *This study was supported by grant from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (Grant No. AT-12-70). 43 © 2000, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.