Common mental health and emotional and behavioural disorders among adolescents and young adults in Harare and Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe: a population-based prevalence study.

Journal: BMJ open

Volume: 13

Issue: 3

Year of Publication: 2023

Affiliated Institutions:  Medical Research Council International Statistics and Epidemiology Group, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK Aoife.Doyle@lshtm.ac.uk. The Health Research Unit Zimbabwe (THRU ZIM), Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe. Medical Research Council International Statistics and Epidemiology Group, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Department of Psychiatry, College of Health Sciences University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Abstract summary 

To estimate the prevalence of common mental health disorders (CMDs) and emotional and behavioural disorders among young people and to explore the correlates of CMDs risk.Five urban and periurban communities in Harare and Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study PARTICIPANTS: Young people aged 13-24 years living in households in the study areas.The primary outcome was the proportion of participants screening positive for probable CMDs defined as a Shona Symptoms Questionnaire (SSQ) score ≥8. Secondary outcomes were emotional and behavioural disorders measured using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and adjusted ORs for factors associated with CMD.Out of 634 young people, 37.4% (95% CI 33.0% to 42.0%) screened positive for probable CMDs, 9.8% (95% CI 7.5% to 12.7%) reported perceptual symptoms and 11.2% (95% CI 9.0% to 13.8%) reported suicidal ideation. Using UK norms to define normal, borderline and abnormal scores for each of the SDQ domains, a high proportion (15.8%) of Zimbabwean young people had abnormal scores for emotional symptoms and a low proportion had abnormal scores for hyperactivity/inattention scores (2.8%) and prosocial scores (7.1%). We created local cut-offs for the emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/attention and prosocial SDQ domains. The odds of probable CMDs increased with each year of age (OR 1.09, p<0.001) and was higher among those who were out of school and not working compared with those in school or working (adj. OR 1.67 (1.07, 2.62), p=0.04). One in five participants (22.1%) were referred immediately for further clinical assessment but uptake of referral services was low.We observed a high prevalence of symptoms of CMDs among general population urban and peri-urban young people especially among those with no employment. There is a need for more accessible and acceptable youth-friendly mental health services.

Authors & Co-authors:  Doyle Aoife Margaret AM Bandason T T Dauya E E McHugh Grace G Grundy Chris C Simms Victoria V Chibanda D D Ferrand Rashida R

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  GBD 2019 Mental Disorders Collaborators . Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019. Lancet Psychiatry 2022;9:137–50. 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00395-3
Authors :  8
Identifiers
Doi : e065276
SSN : 2044-6055
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Humans
Other Terms
child & adolescent psychiatry;epidemiology;mental health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
Zimbabwe
Publication Country
England