BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need to provide training and tools to frontline health workers in order for them to properly diagnose and treat mental illnesses in Latin-American communities, since the vast majority of people with a mental illness suffer in silence. A computer-assisted interview, the Global Mental Health Assessment Tool (GMHAT/PC) has been developed to assist general practitioners and other health professionals to make a quick, convenient, yet reasonably comprehensive and standardised mental health assessment. GMHAT/PC has been translated into various languages including German, Dutch, Chinese, Hindi and Arabic. This is the first study, of a GMHAT/PC Spanish version carried out in Latin America, to establish its validity in that culture and feasibility to be used in the health care setting. If proven a valid tool through this study, the GMHAT/PC Spanish version will be an important aid towards improving the mental health of Spanish-speaking communities within the Latin-American region. AIM: The study aims at assessing both the validity of a GMHAT/PC Spanish version, and the feasibility of utilising a computer assisted diagnostic interview by GPs. DESIGN: 1) Validation study was planned to establish whether the GMHAT/PC based diagnosis compares well with the consultants ICD-10 based diagnosis (Gold Standard) 2) Feasibility study was carried out to examine whether GMHAT/PC can be used in routine clinical care in a general health setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the first study (validation), participants varied from those who were in remission i.e. without much psychopathology to those had symptoms of a severe mental illness. They were recruited from in-patient (82%) and out-patient (18%) mental health settings in Colombia. The participants were expected to have a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses (anxiety disorders, depression, psychosis, bipolar affective disorder, organic mental disorders, and other diagnoses). All consecutive patients were interviewed by GPs using GMHAT/PC and psychiatrists made an independent diagnosis applying ICD-10 criteria. The second study (feasibility) was carried out on patients hospitalised at medical, surgical and women’s wards during a period of one month in each service. The diagnosis of a medical illness was made by specialists in each service. A trained GP carried out psychiatric assessment of all participants using GMHAT/PC. RESULTS: First study (validity): two hundred ninety-nine patients (n=299) participated, 54.18% males and 45.81% females in the age range of 14-78. All patients were interviewed independently by seven psychiatrists with over five years of clinical experience. The mean duration of GMHAT/PC interview was 12.5 minutes. Most patients were pleased that they were asked about every aspect of their mental health. Psychiatrists made a single diagnosis in 183 (61%) cases, multiple (two) diagnosis in 112 (37%) cases and multiple (three) diagnosis in another four cases. GMHAT/PC in almost all cases gave additional multiple diagnoses. The results show an acceptable-to-good level of agreement between the GPs’ (GMHAT/PC) diagnoses and the psychiatrists’ (clinical) diagnoses of any mental illness, Kappa 0.58- 95% C.I (0.46, 0.72). There is a good level of sensitivity (81%) and specificity (92%), with GPs correctly identifying 242 out of the 250 participants diagnosed with a mental illness, and 27 out of 35 of those who do not present any whatsoever. The agreement (kappa value) between GMHAT/PC diagnosis and psychiatrists ICD-10 based diagnosis of specific disorders were as follows: Organic disorders-0.87; Psychosis- 0.56; Depression-0.53; Mania-0.6, Alcohol and drug misuse- 0.62, Learning disorder- 0.4; Personality Disorder- 0.39 and Anxiety disorders- 0.14. The sensitivity of different disorders ranged from 63% (Mania) to 100% (Anxiety) and specificity from 71% (Anxiety) to 100% (organic). The second study (feasibility): out of 455 medically-ill patients, 4.8% had a mental illness identified by GMHAT/PC interview. Anxiety, depression and organic disorders were the most frequently identified mental disorders in internal medicine and surgery. Cancer had a significantly higher prevalence of comorbid mental illness. CONCLUSION: GMHAT/PC -Spanish version used by GPs in this study detected mental disorders accurately and it was feasible to use GMHAT/PC in Colombia and Latin-American health settings. The findings of this study will have a big impact upon mental health service provision in Spanish-speaking nations within the Latin-American region as the Spanish version for GMHAT/PC will assist primary care physicians and other health workers in detecting and managing mental health disorders in the communities. There is no other comparable easy-to-use comprehensive mental health diagnostic tool available in Spanish.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:725719 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Tejada, Paola A. |
| Contributors | Sharma, V. K. |
| Publisher | University of Chester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10034/620649 |
Page generated in 0.0147 seconds