Emotional disorders are common human emotional states that include anxiety, depression, social impairment and somatic symptoms. Emotional disorders are common in the community and therefore an important issue in primary care practice. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of emotional disorders among adults at a rural primary care clinic in Malaysia and to identify the associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Klinik Kesihatan Sungai Mati, Muar, Johor from 1st November to 31st December 1998. A self-administered 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) was used to screen for emotional disorders. Out of 414 patients seen during the study period, 368 fulfilled the selection criteria and agreed to participate in the study (response rate 88.9%). The prevalence of emotional disorders among the adult patients in this study was 15.2%. Factors such as age, race, gender, marital status, education level and employment were analyzed for association with emotional disorders. However, none of these factors were found to be significantly associated with emotional disorders in this study.