AHRI.UZIMA Pilot Study:Adolescent Mental Health Data 2012-2022

Mental disorders are significant contributors to illness, disability, and mortality, and they pose serious suicide risks. Many common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and behavioural issues, typically develop during adolescence and can lead to long-term mental and physical health challenges. Young people in Africa face a dual burden of HIV and mental health problems. This situation is further complicated by insufficient mental health resources, including data, and the need for locally validated, culturally appropriate screening tools to identify mental health issues. The UZIMA-DS Pilot study aims to consolidate various data sources to create a shared resource accessible to mental health researchers throughout Africa.

We harmonised data from existing studies conducted by the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) that assessed mental health in adolescents and young adults aged 10 to 24. The mental health outcomes examined included depression, probable common mental disorder (CMD), and suicidal ideation. Depression was assessed using a 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), while probable CMD was evaluated with a 14-item Shona Symptom Questionnaire (SSQ-14). Suicidal ideation was measured using both the PHQ-9 and SSQ-14. This harmonised dataset was integrated with migration data from AHRI's health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) and clinic data from AHRI's clinical platform to provide insights into the long-term outcomes of study participants.