Exploring the return-on-investment for scaling screening and psychosocial treatment for women with common perinatal mental health problems in Malawi: Developing a cost-benefit-calculator tool.

This study sought to develop a user-friendly decision-making tool to explore country-specific estimates for costs and economic consequences of different options for scaling screening and psychosocial interventions for women with common perinatal mental health problems in Malawi. We developed a simple simulation model using a structure and parameter estimates that were established iteratively with experts, based on published trials, international databases and resources, statistical data, best practice guidance and intervention manuals. The model projects annual costs and returns to investment from 2022 to 2026.

Piloting a psychosocial intervention for perinatal depression, the Thinking Healthy Programme-Peer delivered (THPP), in a primary care setting in Lilongwe District, Malawi.

Despite the evidence for the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for perinatal depression, their uptake is low in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Reasons for this include the lack of contextually adapted interventions and mental health specialists to deliver them. This study aimed to test the acceptability and feasibility of a psychosocial intervention for perinatal depression, the Thinking Healthy Programme-Peer Delivered, adapted for use in rural Malawi.

Association between physical multimorbidity and common mental health disorders in rural and urban Malawian settings: Preliminary findings from Healthy Lives Malawi long-term conditions survey.

In low-income Africa, the epidemiology of physical multimorbidity and associated mental health conditions is not well described. We investigated the multimorbidity burden, disease combinations, and relationship between physical multimorbidity and common mental health disorders in rural and urban Malawi using early data from 9,849 adults recruited to an on-going large cross-sectional study on long-term conditions, initiated in 2021. Multimorbidity was defined as having two or more measured (diabetes, hypertension) or self-reported (diabetes, hypertension, disability, chronic pain, HIV, asthma, stroke, heart disease, and epilepsy) conditions.

Views and experiences of traditional and Western medicine practitioners on potential collaboration in the care of people living with mental illness in Malawi.

Introduction: Collaboration between traditional and biomedical medicine can lead to holistic care and improved health outcomes for people with mental illnesses. The current study aimed to explore the views and experiences of traditional and western medicine practitioners on potential collaboration in the care of people living with mental illness in Blantyre, Malawi.

Method: A phenomenological qualitative research design was used.

Maternal mental health research in Malawi: Community and healthcare provider perspectives on acceptability and ethicality.

Maternal mental health (MMH) is recognised as globally significant. The prevalence of depression and factors associated with its onset among perinatal women in Malawi has been previously reported, and the need for further research in this domain is underscored. Yet, there is little published scholarship regarding the acceptability and ethicality of MMH research to women and community representatives.

Psychosis Recovery Orientation in Malawi by Improving Services and Engagement (PROMISE) protocol.

Malawi has a population of around 20 million people and is one of the world's most economically deprived nations. Severe mental illness (largely comprising psychoses and severe mood disorders) is managed by a very small number of staff in four tertiary facilities, aided by clinical officers and nurses in general hospitals and clinics. Given these constraints, psychosis is largely undetected and untreated, with a median duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) of around six years.

Pathways to care for psychosis in Malawi.

People with psychosis in Malawi have very limited access to timely assessment and evidence-based care, leading to a long duration of untreated psychosis and persistent disability. Most people with psychosis in the country consult traditional or religious healers. Stigmatising attitudes are common and services have limited capacity, particularly in rural areas.

Exploring the cultural appropriateness of a psychosocial intervention, the Thinking Healthy Programme-Peer delivered (THPP), for perinatal depression in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Background: Perinatal depression is a common and disabling mental health problem in Malawi and other Low- and middle-income countries. There is evidence for effective psychosocial interventions for perinatal depression, but no such intervention has been developed for use in Malawi. The broad aim of this study was to explore the cultural appropriateness of a psychosocial intervention for perinatal depression called the Thinking Healthy Programme-Peer delivered for adaptation and use in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Qualitative study of patient experiences of mental distress during TB investigation and treatment in Zambia.

Background: The mental health and TB syndemic is a topic that remains under-researched with a significant gap in acknowledging and recognizing patient experiences, particularly in the sub-Saharan African region. In this qualitative study conducted in Zambia, we aimed to explore the lived mental health experiences of TB patients focusing on their multi-layered drivers of distress, and by so doing highlighting contextual factors that influence mental distress in TB patients in this setting.

Methods: The study draws on qualitative data collected in 2018 as part of the Tuberculosis Reduction through Expanded Antiretroviral Treatment and Screening for active TB trial (TREATS) being conducted in Zambia.

Conceptualization, detection, and management of psychological distress and mental health conditions among people with tuberculosis in Zambia: a qualitative study with stakeholders' and TB health workers.

Background: In recent years, there has been increased recognition of the need to integrate mental health services into routine tuberculosis (TB) care. For successful integration, policymakers need to first understand the practices of TB health workers in the management of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, and use this to decide how best mental health services could be delivered in tandem with TB services. In this qualitative study we aimed to understand how TB health workers and other stakeholders viewed mental health conditions linked to TB and how they screened and treated these in their patients.

Reliability and validity of depression anxiety stress scale (DASS)-21 in screening for common mental disorders among postpartum women in Malawi.

Background: Approximately one in five women who have recently given birth suffer from common mental disorder (CMD), particularly depression and/or anxiety. Most available CMD screening tools in most low- and middle-income countries do not screen for more than one mental health problem. Having a screening tool that is free to use, short in assessment time, and used to screen for more than one CMD is appealing in a resource-constrained setting.

Perinatal mental health around the world: priorities for research and service development in Africa.

Africa is a diverse and changing continent with a rapidly growing population, and the mental health of mothers is a key health priority. Recent studies have shown that: perinatal common mental disorders (depression and anxiety) are at least as prevalent in Africa as in high-income and other low- and middle-income regions; key risk factors include intimate partner violence, food insecurity and physical illness; and poor maternal mental health is associated with impairment of infant health and development. Psychological interventions can be integrated into routine maternal and child healthcare in the African context, although the optimal model and intensity of intervention remain unclear and are likely to vary across settings.

Developing Biopsychosocial Research on Maternal Mental Health in Malawi: Community Perspectives and Concerns.

Interest in maternal mental health research is growing around the world. Maternal mental health research studies in Malawi have, for instance, sought to determine and establish the incidence and prevalence of depression and anxiety in pregnant people and the factors that contribute to experiences of these states. This article reports stakeholder perspectives on potential community concerns with biopsychosocial mental health research (which might include collecting blood samples) in Malawi.

Quantitative Evaluation of Equine Articular Cartilage Using Cationic Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography.

Objective: To investigate the diffusion trajectory of a cationic contrast medium (CA4+) into equine articular cartilage, and to assess normal and degenerative equine articular cartilage using cationic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT).

Design: In the first experiment (Exp1), equine osteochondral specimens were serially imaged with cationic CECT to establish the diffusion time constant and time to reach equilibrium in healthy articular cartilage. In a separate experiment (Exp2), articular cartilage defects were created on the femoral trochlea (defect joint) in a juvenile horse, while the opposite joint was a sham-operated control.

Detection and prevalence of depression among adult type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending non-communicable diseases clinics in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Background: Depression is associated with chronic physical illnesses and negatively affects health outcomes. However, it often goes undiagnosed and untreated. We investigated the prevalence of depression among adult type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients attending non-communicable diseases (NCD) clinics in Lilongwe, Malawi, and estimated the level of routine detection by NCD clinicians.

Overestimation of Postpartum Depression Prevalence Based on a 5-item Version of the EPDS: Systematic Review and Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis.

Objective: The Maternal Mental Health in Canada, 2018/2019, survey reported that 18% of 7,085 mothers who recently gave birth reported "feelings consistent with postpartum depression" based on scores ≥7 on a 5-item version of the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS-5). The EPDS-5 was designed as a screening questionnaire, not to classify disorders or estimate prevalence; the extent to which EPDS-5 results reflect depression prevalence is unknown. We investigated EPDS-5 ≥7 performance relative to major depression prevalence based on a validated diagnostic interview, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID).

Depression prevalence based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale compared to Structured Clinical Interview for DSM DIsorders classification: Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis.

Objectives: Estimates of depression prevalence in pregnancy and postpartum are based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) more than on any other method. We aimed to determine if any EPDS cutoff can accurately and consistently estimate depression prevalence in individual studies.

Methods: We analyzed datasets that compared EPDS scores to Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID) major depression status.

Implementing an mhGAP-based training and supervision package to improve healthcare workers' competencies and access to mental health care in Malawi.

Background: It is now well established that the integration of mental health care into primary care is one of the most effective ways of reducing the substantial treatment gap for mental disorders which exists in most low- and middle-income countries. This study set out to determine whether a Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) training and supervision package could be contextualised and implemented within the existing health care system in five districts in Southern Malawi. In addition, the study assessed the feasibility of holding community awareness events and establishing peer support groups in each district to further improve the access of the population to evidence-based mental health care.

Comparison of major depression diagnostic classification probability using the SCID, CIDI, and MINI diagnostic interviews among women in pregnancy or postpartum: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

Objectives: A previous individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) identified differences in major depression classification rates between different diagnostic interviews, controlling for depressive symptoms on the basis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. We aimed to determine whether similar results would be seen in a different population, using studies that administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in pregnancy or postpartum.

Methods: Data accrued for an EPDS diagnostic accuracy IPDMA were analysed.

Protocol development for synchrotron contrast-enhanced CT of human hip cartilage.

Understanding hip osteoarthritis requires new investigational tools for quantitative studies of biophysical and biomechanical properties as well as for determination of structure. Three new protocols to study pathological changes in cartilage and to measure cartilage thickness in intact human hips are described using synchrotron contrast enhanced computed tomography (sCECT) with the iodinated contrast agent CA4+. Ten human cadaver hips were prepared and injected with CA4+ using three different methods, all of which included rotation and distraction of the joint.

"Passing through difficult times": Perceptions of perinatal depression and treatment needs in Malawi - A qualitative study to inform the development of a culturally sensitive intervention.

Purpose: This study was conducted to explore the perceptions of perinatal women and key maternal care health workers about perinatal depression and the health service needs required to inform development of a culturally sensitive and acceptable psychosocial intervention.

Methods: This qualitative study used a descriptive exploratory design; it is the first phase of a larger mixed methods study aimed at adapting a psychosocial intervention for perinatal depression. We conducted in-depth interviews with 22 women who screened positive for depression using a locally validated Chichewa version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at antenatal and postnatal clinics in 1 rural and 1 urban health care setting in Lilongwe District, Malawi.

Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography Scoring System for Distinguishing Early Osteoarthritis Disease States: A Feasibility Study.

Early detection of osteoarthritis (OA) remains a diagnostic challenge owing to insensitive diagnostic techniques currently available. Herein a new semiquantitative scoring system, based upon contrast-enhanced computed tomographic (CECT) imaging, is described for further refinement of early OA disease staging. Trochlear ridge cartilage defects were surgically created in the femoropatellar joint of an adult horse (ACUC approved protocols).

The validity of the patient health Questionnaire-9 to screen for depression in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus in non-communicable diseases clinics in Malawi.

Background: Depression is a global problem, affecting populations worldwide, but is too often under-diagnosed. The identification of depression among patients with diabetes is important because depression is prevalent in this group and can complicate diabetes management.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9 in the detection of depression among patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus attending non-communicable diseases (NCD) clinics in Malawi.