Browsing by Author "Tomlinson, Mark (Mark R.)"

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    The development of an ultra-short, maternal mental health screening tool in South Africa
    (Cambridge University Press, 2019-10-07) Van Heyningen, T.; Myer, L.; Tomlinson, Mark (Mark R.); Field, S.; Honikman, S.
    Purpose: The burden of common perinatal mental disorders (CPMD) in low-and-middle-income countries is substantially higher than high-income countries, with low levels of detection, service provision and treatment in resource-constrained settings. We describe the development of an ultra-short screening tool to detect antenatal depression, anxiety disorders and maternal suicidal ideation. Methods: A sample of 376 women was recruited at a primary-level obstetric clinic. Five depression and anxiety symptom-screening questionnaires, demographics and psychosocial risk questionnaires were administered. All participants were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), a structured, diagnostic interview. Screening tool items were analysed against diagnostic data using multiple logistic regression and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis. Results: The prevalence of MINI-defined major depressive episode (MDE) and/or anxiety disorders was 33%. Overall, 18% of participants expressed suicidal ideation and behaviour, 54% of these had no depression or anxiety diagnosis. Multiple logistic regression identified four screening items that were independently predictive of MDE and anxiety disorders, investigating depressed mood, anhedonia, anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation. ROC analysis of these combined items yielded an area under the curve of 0.83 (95% CI 0.78–0.88). A cut-off score of 2 or more offered a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 82%. Conclusion: This novel screening tool is the first measure of CPMD developed in South Africa to include depressed mood, anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation. While the tool requires further investigation, it may be useful for the early identification of mental health symptoms and morbidity in the perinatal period.
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    Global research priorities to accelerate programming to improve early childhood development in the sustainable development era : a CHNRI exercise Early childhood development
    (International Society of Global Health, 2019) Tomlinson, Mark (Mark R.); Darmstadt, Gary L.; Yousafzai, Aisha K.; Daelmans, Bernadette; Britto, Pia; Gordon, Sarah L.; Tablante, Elizabeth; Dua, Tarun
    Background: Approximately 250 million children under the age of five in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) will not achieve their developmental potential due to poverty and stunting alone. Investments in programming to improve early childhood development (ECD) have the potential to disrupt the cycle of poverty and therefore should be prioritised. Support for ECD has increased in recent years. Nevertheless, donors and policies continue to neglect ECD, in part from lack of evidence to guide policy makers and donors about where they should focus policies and programmes. Identification and investment in research is needed to overcome these constraints and in order to achieve high quality implementation of programmes to improve ECD. Methods: The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) priority setting methodology was applied in order to assess research priorities for improving ECD. A group of 348 global and local experts in ECD-related research were identified and invited to generate research questions. This resulted in 406 research questions which were categorised and refined by study investigators into 54 research questions across six thematic goals which were evaluated using five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, feasibility, impact, and effect on equity. Research options were ranked by their final research priority score multiplied by 100. Results: The top three research priority options from the LMIC experts came from the third thematic goal of improving the impact of interventions, whereas the top three research priority options from high-income country experts came from different goals: improving the integration of interventions, increasing the understanding of health economics and social protection strategies, and improving the impact of interventions. Conclusion: The results of this process highlight that priorities for future research should focus on the need for services and support to parents to provide nurturing care, and the training of health workers and non-specialists in implementation of interventions to improve ECD. Three of the six thematic goals of the present priority setting centred on interventions (ie, improving impact, implementation of interventions and improving the integration of interventions). In order to achieve higher coverage through sustainable interventions to improve ECD with equitable reach, interventions should be integrated and not be sector driven.
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    Identifying and treating maternal mental health difficulties in Afghanistan : a feasibility study
    (BMC (part of Springer Nature), 2020) Tomlinson, Mark (Mark R.); Chaudhery, Deepika; Ahmadzai, Habibullah; Rodriguez Gomez, Sofia; Bizouerne, Cecile; Van Heyningen, Thandi; Chopra, Mickey
    Background: The disproportionately high burden of mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries, coupled with the overwhelming lack of resources, requires an innovative approach to intervention and response. This study evaluated the feasibility of delivering a maternal mental health service in a severely-resource constrained setting as part of routine service delivery. Methods: This exploratory feasibility study was undertaken at two health facilities in Afghanistan that did not have specialist mental health workers. Women who had given birth in the past 12 months were screened for depressive symptoms with the PHQ9 and invited to participate in a psychological intervention which was offered through an infant feeding scheme. Results: Of the 215 women screened, 131 (60.9%) met the PHQ9 criteria for referral to the intervention. The screening prevalence of postnatal depression was 61%, using a PHQ9 cut-off score of 12. Additionally, 29% of women registered as suicidal on the PHQ9. Several demographic and psychosocial variables were associated with depressive symptoms in this sample, including nutritional status of the infant, anxiety symptoms, vegetative and mood symptoms, marital difficulties, intimate partner violence, social isolation, acute stress and experience of trauma. Of the 47 (65%) women who attended all six sessions of the intervention, all had significantly decreased PHQ9 scores post-intervention. Conclusion: In poorly resourced environments, where the prevalence of postnatal depression is high, a shift in response from specialist-based to primary health care-level intervention may be a viable way to provide maternal mental health care. It is recommended that such programmes also consider home-visiting components and be integrated into existing infant and child health programmes. Manualised, evidence-based psychological interventions, delivered by non-specialist health workers, can improve outcomes where resources are scarce.
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    The Philani Movie study : a cluster randomized controlled trial of a mobile video entertainment-education intervention to promote exclusive breastfeeding in South Africa
    (BMC (part of Springer Nature), 2019) Adam, Maya; Tomlinson, Mark (Mark R.); Le Roux, Ingrid; LeFevre, Amnesty E.; McMahon, Shannon A.; Johnston, Jamie; Kirton, Angela; Mbewu, Nokwanele; Strydom, Stacy-Leigh; Prober, Charles; Bärnighausen, Till
    Background: In South Africa, rates of exclusive breastfeeding remain low and breastfeeding promotion is a national health priority. Mobile health and narrative entertainment-education are recognized strategies for health promotion. Inhome counseling by community health workers (CHWs) is a proven breastfeeding promotion strategy. This protocol outlines a cluster-randomized controlled trial with a nested mixed-methods evaluation of the MObile Video Intervention for Exclusive breastfeeding (MOVIE) program. The evaluation will quantify the causal effect of the MOVIE program and generate a detailed understanding of the context in which the intervention took place and the mechanisms through which it enacted change. Findings from the study will inform the anticipated scale-up of mobile video health interventions in South Africa and the wider sub-Saharan region. Methods: We will conduct a stratified cluster-randomized controlled trial in urban communities of the Western Cape, to measure the effect of the MOVIE intervention on exclusive breastfeeding and other infant feeding practices. Eightyfour mentor-mothers (CHWs employed by the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust) will be randomized 1:1 into intervention and control arms, stratified by neighborhood type. Mentor-mothers in the control arm will provide standard of care (SoC) perinatal in-home counseling. Mentor-mothers in the intervention arm will provide SoC plus the MOVIE intervention. At least 1008 pregnant participants will be enrolled in the study and mother-child pairs will be followed until 5 months post-delivery. The primary outcomes of the study are exclusive breastfeeding at 1 and 5 months of age. Secondary outcomes are other infant feeding practices and maternal knowledge. In order to capture human-centered underpinnings of the intervention, we will conduct interviews with stakeholders engaged in the intervention design. To contextualize quantitative findings and understand the mechanisms through which the intervention enacted change, end-line focus groups with mentor-mothers will be conducted. Discussion: This trial will be among the first to explore a video-based, entertainment-education intervention delivered by CHWs and created using a community-based, human-centered design approach. As such, it could inform health policy, with regards to both the routine adoption of this intervention and, more broadly, the development of other entertainment-education interventions for health promotion in under-resourced settings.