ArticleJournal of affective disorders2024
Validation of screening instruments for common mental disorders and suicide risk in south African primary care settings.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy of mental health screening tools applicable to adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Screening PTSD in clinical populations within East Africa: results from the first follow-up study of NeuroGAP-psychosis.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Enhancing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Adolescents and Young Adults Through the Asenze Impilo Project: Protocol for a Human-Centered Design Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Article
- Determinants of PrEP Delivery Platform Choice in Adolescents and Young People: The Fast-PrEP Project in Cape Town, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Hidden in Success: Gendered Patterns of Suboptimal Care Engagement Among Tuberculosis Patients Who "Successfully" Completed Treatment in South Africa.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Integration of specialised mental health services in an HIV clinic in a low resource setting.BMJ open quality · 2026Article
- Psychometric properties of suicide risk assessments in young Black populations internationally: a scoping review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Review
- Participant engagement and feedback in microbiome projects: a case of AWI-Gen 2.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale to Assess Suicidality Among Young Women in the Urban Slums of Kampala Uganda: Baseline Findings from the TOPOWA Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Toward integrating clinical and non-clinical associates of suicidality to inform potential intervention points among youth in Nairobi metropolitan, Kenya.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- The migration experience and mental health in the context of insecurity: evidence from Burkina Faso.Population health metrics · 2025Review
- The Impact of Research Results Feedback on the Lived Experiences of Elderly Participants in the DIMAMO Health Demographic Site: A Case of AWI-Gen Participants.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Hidden in Success: Gendered Patterns of Suboptimal Care Engagement Among TB Patients Who "Successfully" Completed Treatment in South Africa.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Mental, physical, and respiratory health in people with tuberculosis in Southern Africa: a multi-country cohort analysis.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- The impact of grit on adolescent resilience in examining longitudinal mental health outcomes in peri-rural South Africa.Research square · 2025Article
- Which factors affect anxiety in rural older adults in China?Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Factorial invariance of the generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7) in Latin America and the Caribbean.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- An Ultra-Brief Proxy Measure for Early Mental and Substance Use Disorders and Suicide Risk Case Detection at the Community and Household Level: An Efficient and Feasible Clinical and Population-level Service Needs Screening Tool.Medical research archives · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionIn South Africa, there is limited mental health infrastructure and resources. Valid screening tools are needed to facilitate identification and linkage to care. We evaluated the performance of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Primary Care Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5), and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) among adults in South Africa against a diagnostic gold standard.
methodsAdults present at healthcare facilities were screened with the PHQ-9, GAD-7, PC-PTSD-5, and the C-SSRS. Nurses used a structured diagnostic interview to identify depression, anxiety, panic disorder, PTSD and elevated suicide risk. We assessed the internal consistency, criterion validity, and the sensitivity and specificity of these tools.
resultsOf the 1885 participants, the prevalence of common mental disorders and suicide risk was 24.4 % and 14.9 %, respectively. The PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PC-PTSD-5 showed good internal consistency (0.80-0.89). All screeners demonstrated good criterion validity. For depression, a cut-off of ≥5 on the PHQ-9 yielded sensitivity of 84.24 %, while ≥10 yielded sensitivity of 48.77 %. For anxiety, the GAD-7 performed similarly. A cut-off of ≥4 on the PC-PTSD yielded sensitivity of 61.96 %. The C-SSRS yielded lower sensitivity than expected. LIMITATIONS: The prevalence data is not generalizable to the larger South African adult population given the use of a targeted, healthcare facility-based sampling and recruitment strategy.
conclusionsThe performance of the PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PC-PTSD-5 demonstrated good internal consistency and criterion validity, though sensitivity and specificity trade-offs were enhanced with lower cut-offs. Further research into suicide risk screening is warranted.
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