Gracy Andrew

Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of drug and psychological treatments for common mental disorders in general health care in Goa, India: a randomised, controlled trial

BACKGROUND Common mental disorders are associated with substantial morbidity and disability in developing countries, but there are no data for efficacy of treatment. We aimed to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of antidepressant and psychological treatment for common mental disorders in general health-care settings. METHOD We did a randomised, placebo-controlled trial (double-blind for the antidepressant group) in general outpatient clinics in two district hospitals in Goa, India. Consecutive eligible adults who scored more than 15 on the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (n=450) were randomly assigned to antidepressant (fluoxetine), placebo, or psychological treatment. Antidepressant or placebo was provided for up to 6 months. Up to six sessions of psychological treatment were provided by trained therapists. The primary outcome was psychiatric morbidity; secondary outcomes were disability and costs. Outcome measurements were done at 2, 6, and 12 months. Intention-to-treat analyses were done with linear regression. FINDINGS 80% of patients were reviewed; the number of drop-outs was similar in all three groups. Psychiatric outcome was significantly better with antidepressant than with placebo at 2 months (p=0.02; standardised effect size 0.3), but not over the 2-12 month period (p=0.10); antidepressants were significantly more cost effective than placebo in the short term and long term (p<0.05). Psychological treatment was not more effective than placebo for any outcome during either period. INTERPRETATION Affordable antidepressants such as fluoxetine should be the treatment of choice for common mental disorders in general health-care settings in India, since they are associated with improved clinical and economic outcomes, especially in the short term.

Integrating evidence-based treatments for common mental disorders in routine primary care: feasibility and acceptability of the MANAS intervention in Goa, India

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, pose a major public health burden in developing countries. Although these disorders are thought to be best managed in primary care settings, there is a dearth of evidence about how this can be achieved in low resource settings. The MANAS project is an attempt to integrate an evidence based package of treatments into routine public and private primary care settings in Goa, India. Before initiating the trial, we carried out extensive preparatory work, over a period of 15 months, to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the planned intervention. This paper describes the systematic development and evaluation of the intervention through this preparatory phase. The preparatory stage, which was implemented in three phases, utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to inform our understanding of the potential problems and possible solutions in implementing the trial and led to critical modifications of the original intervention plan. Investing in systematic formative work prior to conducting expensive trials of the effectiveness of complex interventions is a useful exercise which potentially improves the likelihood of a positive result of such trials.

The Acceptability, Feasibility, and Effectiveness of a Population-based Intervention to Promote Youth Health: An Exploratory Study in Goa, India

PURPOSE To evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of a population-based intervention to promote health of youth (age: 16-24 years) in Goa. METHODS Two pairs of urban and rural communities were selected; one of each was randomly assigned to receive a multi-component intervention and the other wait-listed. The intervention comprised educational institution-based peer education and teacher training (in the urban community), community peer education, and health information materials. Effectiveness was assessed through before-after population surveys at baseline and at 18 months. Outcomes were measured using a structured interview schedule with all eligible youth. Logistic regression compared each pair, adjusted for baseline differences, on prevalence of outcomes in the domains of reproductive and sexual health (RSH), violence, mental health, substance use, and help seeking for health concerns. RESULTS In both intervention communities, prevalence of violence perpetrated and probable depression was significantly lower and knowledge and attitudes about RSH significantly higher (p < .05). The rural sample also reported fewer menstrual complaints and higher levels of help-seeking for RSH complaints by women, and knowledge and attitudes about emotional health and substance use; and, the urban sample reported significantly lower levels of substance use, suicidal behavior, sexual abuse, and RSH complaints. Although information materials were acceptable and feasible in both communities, community peer education was feasible only in the rural community. The institution-based interventions were generally acceptable and feasible. CONCLUSIONS Multicomponent interventions comprising information materials, educational-institution interventions and, in rural contexts, community peer interventions are acceptable and feasible and likely to be effective for youth health promotion.

The acceptability, feasibility and impact of a lay health counsellor delivered health promoting schools programme in India: a case study evaluation

BackgroundStudies in resource-limited settings have shown that there are constraints to the use of teachers, peers or health professionals to deliver school health promotion interventions. School health programmes delivered by trained lay health counsellors could offer a cost-effective alternative. This paper presents a case study of a multi-component school health promotion intervention in India that was delivered by lay school health counsellors, who possessed neither formal educational nor health provider qualifications.MethodsThe intervention was based on the WHO’s Health Promoting Schools framework, and included health screening camps; an anonymous letter box for student questions and complaints; classroom-based life skills training; and, individual psycho-social and academic counselling for students. The intervention was delivered by a lay school health counsellor who had attained a minimum of a high school education. The counsellor was trained over four weeks and received structured supervision from health professionals working for the implementing NGO. The evaluation design was a mixed methods case study. Quantitative process indicators were collected to assess the extent to which the programme was delivered as planned (feasibility), the uptake of services (acceptability), and the number of students who received corrective health treatment (evidence of impact). Semi-structured interviews were conducted over two years with 108 stakeholders, and were analysed to identify barriers and facilitators for the programme (feasibility), evaluate acceptability, and gather evidence of positive or negative effects of the programme.ResultsFeasibility was established by the high reported coverage of all the targeted activities by the school health counsellor. Acceptability was indicated by a growing number of submissions to the students’ anonymous letter-box; more students self-referring for counselling services over time; and, the perceived need for the programme, as expressed by principals, parents and students. A minority of teachers complained that there was inadequate information sharing about the programme and mentioned reservations about the capacities of the lay health counsellor. Preliminary evidence of the positive effects of the programme included the correction of vision problems detected in health screening camps, and qualitative evidence of changes in health-related knowledge and behaviour of students.ConclusionA task-shifting approach of delegating school health promotion activities to lay school health counsellors rather than education or health professionals shows promise of effectiveness as a scalable model for promoting the health and well being of school based adolescents in resource constrained settings.

The explanatory models of depression and anxiety in primary care: a qualitative study from India.

BackgroundThe biggest barrier to treatment of common mental disorders in primary care settings is low recognition among health care providers. This study attempts to explore the explanatory models of common mental disorders (CMD) with the goal of identifying how they could help in improving the recognition, leading to effective treatment in primary care.ResultsThe paper describes findings of a cross sectional qualitative study nested within a large randomized controlled trial (the Manas trial). Semi structured interviews were conducted with 117 primary health care attendees (30 males and 87 females) suffering from CMD. Main findings of the study are that somatic phenomena were by far the most frequent presenting problems; however, psychological phenomena were relatively easily elicited on probing. Somatic phenomena were located within a biopsychosocial framework, and a substantial proportion of informants used the psychological construct of ‘tension’ or ‘worry’ to label their illness, but did not consider themselves as suffering from a ‘mental disorder’. Very few gender differences were observed in the descriptions of symptoms but at the same time the pattern of adverse life events and social difficulties varied across gender.ConclusionOur study demonstrates how people present their illness through somatic complaints but clearly link their illness to their psychosocial world. However they do not associate their illness to a ‘mental disorder’ and this is an important phenomenon that needs to be recognized in management of CMD in primary settings. Our study also elicits important gender differences in the experience of CMD.

Building Psychosocial Assets And Wellbeing Among Adolescent Girls: A Randomized Controlled Trial

We conducted a randomized controlled trial of a 5-month resilience-based program (Girls First Resilience Curriculum or RC) among 2308 rural adolescent girls at 57 government schools in Bihar, India. Local women with at least a 10th grade education served as group facilitators. Girls receiving RC improved more (vs. controls) on emotional resilience, self-efficacy, social-emotional assets, psychological wellbeing, and social wellbeing. Effects were not detected on depression. There was a small, statistically significant negative effect on anxiety (though not likely clinically significant). Results suggest psychosocial assets and wellbeing can be improved for girls in high-poverty, rural schools through a brief school-day program. To our knowledge, this is one of the largest developing country trials of a resilience-based school-day curriculum for adolescents.

The impact of a lay counselor led collaborative care intervention for common mental disorders in public and private primary care: A qualitative evaluation nested in the MANAS trial in Goa, India

The MANAS trial evaluated the effectiveness of a lay counselor led collaborative stepped care intervention for Common Mental Disorders (CMD) in public and private sector primary care settings in Goa, India. This paper describes the qualitative findings of the experience of the intervention and its impact on health and psychosocial outcomes. Twenty four primary care facilities (12 public and private each) were randomized to provide either collaborative stepped care (CSC) or enhanced usual care (EUC) to adults who screen positive for CMDs. Participants were sampled purposively based on two criteria: gender and, in the CSC arm, adherence with the intervention. The qualitative study component involved two semi-structured interviews with participants of both arms (N = 115); the first interview within 2 months of recruitment and the second 6–8 months after recruitment. Data were collected between September 2007 and November 2009. More participants in the CSC than EUC arm reported relief from symptoms and an improvement in social functioning and positive impact on work and activities of daily life. The CSC participants attributed their improvement both to medication received from the doctors and the strategies suggested by the lay Health Counselors (HC). However, two key differences were observed in the results for the two types of facilities. First, the CSC participants in the public sector clinics were more likely to consider the HCs to be an important component of providing care who served as a link between patient and the doctor, provided them skills on stress management and helped in adherence to medication. Second, in the private sector, doctors performed roles similar to those of the HCs and participants in both arms placed much faith in the doctor who acted as a confidante and was perceived to understand the participants health and context intimately. Lay counselors working in a CSC model have a positive effect on symptomatic relief, social functioning and satisfaction with care in patients with CMD attending primary care clinics although the impact, compared with usual care, is greater in the public sector.

Fostering emotional, social, physical and educational wellbeing in rural India: the methods of a multi-arm randomized controlled trial of Girls First

BackgroundThere are 600 million girls in low and middle income countries (LMICs), many of whom are at great risk for poor health and education. There is thus great need for programs that can effectively improve wellbeing for these girls. Although many interventions have been developed to address these issues, most focus on health and education without integrating attention to social and emotional factors. This omission is unfortunate, as nascent evidence indicates that these factors are closely related to health and education.This paper describes the methods of a 4-arm randomized controlled trial among 3,560 adolescent girls in rural Bihar, India that tested whether adding an intervention targeting social-emotional issues (based on a “resilience framework”) to an adolescent health intervention would improve emotional, social, physical, and educational wellbeing to a greater extent than its components and a control group. Study arms were: (1) Girls First, a combination of the Girls First Resilience Curriculum (RC) and the Girls First Health Curriculum (HC); (2) Girls First Resilience Curriculum (RC) alone; (3) Girls First Health Curriculum (HC) alone; and (4) a school-as-usual control group (SC).MethodsSeventy-six schools were randomized (19 per condition) and 74 local women with a tenth grade education were trained and monitored to facilitate the program. Quantitative data were collected from 3,560 girls over 4 assessment points with very low rates of participant attrition. Qualitative assessments were conducted with a subset of 99 girls and 27 facilitators.Results and conclusionsIn this article, we discuss guiding principles that facilitated trial implementation, including integrating diverse local and non-local sources of knowledge, focusing on flexibility of planning and implementation, prioritizing systematic measurement selection, and striking a balance between scientific rigor and real-world feasibility.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02429661. Registered 24 April 2015.