"The peace that I wanted, I got": Qualitative insights from patient experiences of SMART DAPPER interventions for major depression and traumatic stress disorders in Kenya.

SMART DAPPER is an implementation science study responding to mental health treatment gaps for depression and trauma-related disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We report on patient experiences in a study using a Sequential, Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) design to test first and second line non-specialist treatment using psychotherapy (Interpersonal Psychotherapy [IPT] or medication (fluoxetine [FLX]), integrated within public sector primary care in western Kenya. An embedded qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews (n = 17) and three (n = 3) focus group discussions with participants (May to October 2021). Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and translated into English; we deductively and inductively analyzed transcripts guided by grounded theoretical approaches and content analysis. We drew on the health belief model and socio-ecological framework to present findings, including perceived severity (motivations for taking part in the intervention), impacts of the intervention at the individual, interpersonal, and community and health systems levels as well as barriers and facilitators. Participants discussed family and marital conflict, loss of a child, loss of income or a job, and traumatic events such as a death or illness. Impacts at the individual level included reduced headaches, improved appetite and weight management, increased energy, improved sleep, better self-efficacy, and improved concentration, which was reported to lead to increased economic opportunities. At the interpersonal level, participants noted a reduction in conflict, better conflict management and resolution, increased harmony with family and community members, and improved relationships with their partners and children. Perceived challenges included balancing the intervention with livelihoods, preference for traditional medicines, actual or anticipated side effects with medication (FLX), mental health stigma, major life events, and perceived inadequate counseling and challenges with providers. The findings demonstrate the potential of the SMART DAPPER intervention for depression and trauma-related disorder treatments and underscore the challenges and barriers that must be addressed when scaling similar interventions. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03466346.

Defining a screening tool for post-traumatic stress disorder in East Africa: a penalized regression approach.

Background: Scalable PTSD screening strategies must be brief, accurate and capable of administration by a non-specialized workforce. Methods: We used PTSD as determined by the structured clinical interview as our gold standard and considered predictors sets of (a) Posttraumatic Stress Checklist-5 (PCL-5), (b) Primary Care PTSD Screen for the DSM-5 (PC-PTSD) and, (c) PCL-5 and PC-PTSD questions to identify the optimal items for PTSD screening for public sector settings in Kenya. A logistic regression model using LASSO was fit by minimizing the average squared error in the validation data. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) measured discrimination performance. Results: Penalized regression analysis suggested a screening tool that sums the Likert scale values of two PCL-5 questions-intrusive thoughts of the stressful experience (#1) and insomnia (#21). This had an AUROC of 0.85 (using hold-out test data) for predicting PTSD as evaluated by the MINI, which outperformed the PC-PTSD. The AUROC was similar in subgroups defined by age, sex, and number of categories of trauma experienced (all AUROCs>0.83) except those with no trauma history- AUROC was 0.78. Conclusion: In some East African settings, a 2-item PTSD screening tool may outperform longer screeners and is easily scaled by a non-specialist workforce.

Use of participatory, action and research methods in enhancing awareness of mental disorders in Kariobangi, Kenya.

Worldwide, mental disorders affect 450 million people and account for 15% of the overall burden of diseases from all causes (World Health Organization, 2001). Two-thirds of those affected do not receive adequate care owing to stigma, discrimination, neglect and poverty. The World Health Organization (2001) found that only 1% of the total health expenditure went to mental health in most countries.