Dawit Wondimagegn

WPA guidance on steps, obstacles and mistakes to avoid in the implementation of community mental health care

This paper provides guidance on the steps, obstacles and mistakes to avoid in the implementation of community mental health care. The document is intended to be of practical use and interest to psychiatrists worldwide regarding the development of community mental health care for adults with mental illness. The main recommendations are presented in relation to: the need for coordinated policies, plans and programmes, the requirement to scale up services for whole populations, the importance of promoting community awareness about mental illness to increase levels of help-seeking, the need to establish effective financial and budgetary provisions to directly support services provided in the community. The paper concludes by setting out a series of lessons learned from the accumulated practice of community mental health care to date worldwide, with a particular focus on the social and governmental measures that are required at the national level, the key steps to take in the organization of the local mental health system, lessons learned by professionals and practitioners, and how to most effectively harness the experience of users, families, and other advocates.

Lessons learned in developing community mental health care in Africa

This paper summarizes the findings for the European Region of the WPA Task Force on Steps, Obstacles and Mistakes to Avoid in the Implementation of Community Mental Health Care. The article presents a description of the region, an overview of mental health policies and legislation, a summary of relevant research in the region, a precis of community mental health services, a discussion of the key lessons learned, and some recommendations for the future.This paper summarizes the findings for the African Region of the WPA Task Force on Steps, Obstacles and Mistakes to Avoid in the Implementation of Community Mental Health Care. We present an overview of mental health policies, plans and programmes in the African region; a summary of relevant research and studies; a critical appraisal of community mental health service components; a discussion of the key challenges, obstacles and lessons learned, and some recommendations for the development of community mental health services in the African region.

Validity of the patient health questionnaire-9 for depression screening and diagnosis in East Africa

Depression is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in primary care settings, particularly in developing countries. This is, in part, due to challenges resulting from lack of skilled mental health workers, stigma associated with mental illness, and lack of cross-culturally validated screening instruments. We conducted this study to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as a screen for diagnosing major depressive disorder among adults in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 926 adults attending outpatient departments in a major referral hospital in Ethiopia participated in this study. We assessed criterion validity and performance characteristics against an independent, blinded, and psychiatrist administered semi-structured Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) interview. Overall, the PHQ-9 items showed good internal (Cronbachs alpha=0.81) and test re-test reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.92). A factor analysis confirmed a one-factor structure. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis showed that a PHQ-9 threshold score of 10 offered optimal discriminatory power with respect to diagnosis of major depressive disorder via the clinical interview (sensitivity=86% and specificity=67%). The PHQ-9 appears to be a reliable and valid instrument that may be used to diagnose major depressive disorders among Ethiopian adults.

Detecting postnatal common mental disorders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Kessler Scales

BACKGROUND The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) has been used successfully across diverse cultural settings. However, a recent study found poor validity in detecting postnatal common mental disorders (CMD) in rural Ethiopia. Using similar methodology, the study was replicated in the capital, Addis Ababa. METHODS Semantic, content and criterion validity of EPDS, Kessler Scale-6 (K6) and Kessler Scale-10 (K10) were assessed in postnatal women attending vaccination clinics. Criterion validation was undertaken on 100 postnatal women, with local psychiatrist diagnosis of CMD using the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS) as the criterion measure. RESULTS The areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) curve for the EPDS, K6 and K10 were 0.85 (95%CI 0.77-0.92), 0.86 (95%CI 0.76-0.97) and 0.87 (95%CI 0.78-0.97), respectively. The EPDS generated sensitivity, specificity and misclassification rates of 78.9%, 75.3% and 24.0%, respectively at an optimal cut-off point of 6/7. The corresponding values for the K6 were 84.2%, 82.7% and 17.0% at a cut-off point of 4/5, and for K10 were 84.2%, 77.8% and 21.0% at a cut-off point of 6/7, respectively. The internal reliability Cronbachs alpha for the EPDS, K6 and K10 were 0.71, 0.86 and 0.90, respectively. LIMITATIONS Not all postnatal women bring their infants to vaccination clinics which may limit generalisability. CONCLUSION The EPDS, K6 and K10 all demonstrated acceptable clinical utility as screening scales for postnatal CMD in an urban setting in Ethiopia. The marked urban-rural difference in EPDS performance within Ethiopia highlights the difficulty of applying urban-validated instruments to rural settings in LAMIC.

Postnatal mental distress in relation to the sociocultural practices of childbirth: an exploratory qualitative study from Ethiopia.

Sociocultural patterning of the postnatal period in non-Western settings has been hypothesised to protect against postnatal depression. In 2004, in a predominantly rural area of Ethiopia, we conducted 25 in-depth interviews and five focus group discussions with purposively selected participants including perinatal women, fathers, grandmothers, traditional and religious leaders, birth attendants and community leaders. Our main objectives were (1) to examine societal recognition of problematic distress states in the postnatal period and relate this to Western conceptualisations of postnatal depression and (2) to relate the occurrence of distress states to sociocultural patterning of the postnatal period. Inductive analysis was employed to identify salient themes. Participants spontaneously described culturally problematic distress states occurring in the postnatal period, although did not consider them to be illness. Vulnerability and danger of the postnatal period was emphasised, with risk of supernatural attack and physical harm leading to distress states. Participants also spoke of how gender disadvantage and economic strain intersect with cultural patterning of the postnatal period, threatening mental health due to the resulting disappointed expectations and exclusion, as well as exacerbation of pre-existing problems. Cultural dissonance, where a persons beliefs or actions are out of kilter with strong prevailing cultural norms, may be an important risk factor for postnatal distress in rural Ethiopia, where the postnatal period is extensively culturally elaborated.

Between life and death: exploring the sociocultural context of antenatal mental distress in rural Ethiopia.

The high prevalence of antenatal common mental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa compared to high-income countries is poorly understood. This qualitative study explored the sociocultural context of antenatal mental distress in a rural Ethiopian community. Five focus group discussions and 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with purposively sampled community stakeholders. Inductive analysis was used to develop final themes. Worry about forthcoming delivery and fears for the woman’s survival were prominent concerns of all participants, but only rarely perceived to be pathological in intensity. Sociocultural practices such as continuing physical labour, dietary restriction, prayer and rituals to protect against supernatural attack were geared towards safe delivery and managing vulnerability. Despite strong cultural norms to celebrate pregnancy, participants emphasised that many pregnancies were unwanted and an additional burden on top of pre-existing economic and marital difficulties. Short birth interval and pregnancy out of wedlock were both seen as shameful and potent sources of mental distress. The notion that pregnancy in traditional societies is uniformly a time of joy and happiness is misplaced. Although antenatal mental distress may be self-limiting for many women, in those with enduring life difficulties, including poverty and abusive relationships, poor maternal mental health may persist.

Measuring common mental disorders in women in Ethiopia: reliability and construct validity of the comprehensive psychopathological rating scale.

BackgroundThere is a dearth of methodological studies critically evaluating reliability, validity and feasibility of measures of common mental disorders (CMD) in low-income countries.MethodsTest-retest and inter-rater reliability of categorisation of CMD caseness, according to locally agreed criteria using the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS), was measured in 99 women from out-patient clinics (inter-rater) and 99 women from a primary healthcare centre (test-retest) in Ethiopia. The construct validity of CMD as measured with CPRS was assessed with exploratory factor analysis using maximum likelihood with varimax rotation.ResultsTest-retest reliability was fair (κ = 0.29). Subsequent assessment of inter-rater reliability found excellent agreement (κ = 0.82). The construct of CMD appeared unidimensional, combining depressive, anxiety and somatic symptoms.ConclusionsDetection of socioculturally meaningful cases of CMD in Ethiopia can be reliably achieved with local psychiatrist assessment using CPRS, although thorough training is essential.

Ethical and professional challenges in mental health care in low- and middle-income countries

Mental health practitioners in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs) face particular ethical and professional challenges in their day-to-day clinical practice. A systematic review of the published literature from all LAMICs identified 42 relevant articles. The majority of papers dealt with violations of individual autonomy, particularly in the context of involuntary admission, use of electro-convulsive therapy and the lack of information given to patients about prescribed psychotropic medications. However, the appropriateness of this focus on individual autonomy was challenged in settings where values emphasizing the interconnectedness of communities prevail and the family shoulder the burden for most mental health care. When access to the least restrictive, culturally relevant, evidence-based care is limited to the privileged few, caregivers may be forced to over-ride the individual autonomy of the patient in order to ensure receipt of effective treatment or protection of others. Enactment of modern mental health legislation in all LAMICs remains an essential goal to protect the rights of the mentally ill. In parallel with this, supporting calls for the scaling up of mental health care will do more to ensure the right to mental health care and ensure actual implementation of international ethical frameworks.

Diagnostic validity of the composite international diagnostic interview (CIDI) depression module in an east African population

Objective: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the structured Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) in diagnosing current major depressive disorder (MDD) among East African adults. Methods: A sample of 926 patients attending a major referral hospital in Ethiopia participated in this diagnostic assessment study. We used a two-stage study design where participants were first interviewed using an Amharic version of the CIDI and a stratified random sample underwent a follow-up semi-structured clinical interview conducted by a psychiatrist, blinded to the screening results, using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) instrument. We tested construct validity by examining the association of the CIDI and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHO-QOL) questionnaire. We calculated the psychometric properties of the CIDI using the SCAN diagnostic interview as a gold standard. Results: We found that the Amharic version of the CIDI diagnostic interview has good internal reliability (Cronbachs alpha = 0.97) among Ethiopian adults. Compared to the SCAN reference standard, the CIDI had fair specificity (72.2%) but low sensitivity (51.0%). Our study provided evidence for unidimensionality of core depression screening questions on the CIDI interview with good factor loadings on a major core depressive factor. Conclusion: The Amharic language version of the CIDI had fair specificity and low sensitivity in detecting MDD compared with psychiatrist administered SCAN diagnosis. Our findings are generally consistent with prior studies. Use of fully structured interviews such as the CIDI for MDD diagnosis in clinical settings might lead to under-detection of DSM-IV MDD.

Partnering with local scientists should be mandatory

The problem of inequity in international research is perpetuated by policies that enable scientists to conduct research in lower-resourced areas of the world without partnering with local researchers. The World Health Organization (WHO) needs to lead in solving this problem by working with research institutions, journal editors and funding agencies to document the degree of inequity and to impose penalties for failures to collaborate.