Psychometric properties of an African symptoms check list scale: the Ndetei-Othieno-Kathuku scale

No Abstract. East African Medical Journal Vol. 83(5) 2006: 280-28

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF AN AFRICAN SYMPTOMS CHECK LIST SCALE: THE NDETEI – OTHIENO – KATHUKU SCALE

Objectives: To profile and quantify the psychometric properties of the NOK (Ndetei-Othieno-Kathuku) scale against internationally used Gold-standards and benchmarks for mild psychiatric disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders and to provide a potential easy to administer culture sensitive instrument for screening and assessing those with possible psychiatric disorders for the Kenyanand similar social-cultural situations.Design: Cross-Sectional quantitative study.Setting: A psychiatric clinical consultation setting and Kyanguli Secondary School psychotrauma counselling clinical set-up.Subjects: Survivors of the Nairobi USA Embassy bombing who were referred for psychiatric treatment and survivors of a fire disaster from a rural Kenyan school (Kyanguli School fire disaster) including students, parents of the diseased children and staff members.Results: Positive correlation was found between the NOK and all the instruments. The highest correlations were between the NOK and the BDI and SCL–90 (r = 0.557 to 0.786). The differences between the NOK scores among the different groups were statistically significant (F ratio = 13.54to 160.34, p < 0.01). The reliability coefficient (internal consistency) of the scale, alpha = 0.9733.Other item statistics and correlations of the scale are discussed.Conclusion: It is concluded that the NOK has high concurrent and discriminant validity as well as a high internal consistency and that it can be used for the rapid assessment of psychotrauma victimsof all age groups; and stress in general in similar age groups in the local setting. It is culture appropriate and sensitive

Post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder, among university students following a terrorist attack in Kenya

Background: Little research exists in Sub-Saharan Africa on the rates of mental disorders following terror attacks. Available studies have examined PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) only. This study sought to document the burden of PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) among survivors of the Garissa University College terror attack that occurred in North Eastern Kenya in 2015Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of medical records of students screened for psychopathology following the attack. Screening for the terror attack related PTSD, for MDD and for GAD was done using the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (PCL-5), the Patient Health Questionnaire -9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 – item Scale (GAD-7), respectively. Screening was conducted 7 weeks after the attack. Results: A total of 552 subjects were screened of whom 385 (69.7%) were male. Two hundred and fifty eight (46.7% [95% CI: 42.5, 50.9]) participants met criteria for a probable PTSD. Two hundred and five (37.1% [95%CI: 33.1, 41.2]) screened positive for MDD while 231 (41.8% [95%CI: 37.7, 46.0]) had probable GAD. There were high rates of co-occurrence of PTSD, MDD and GAD with 139 (25.1%) participants screening positive for all three disorders.Conclusions: The results of this study show a high mental health impact upon survivors of the attack. These findings have implications for the planning of interventions in the aftermath of terror attacks in Kenya