The Validity of the substance abuse and mental illness symptom screener (SAMISS) in people living with HIV/AIDS in primary HIV care in cape town, South Africa

Erica Breuer; Kevin Stoloff; Landon Myer; Soraya Seedat; Dan J. Stein; John A. Joska

doi:10.1007/s10461-014-0698-y

The Validity of the substance abuse and mental illness symptom screener (SAMISS) in people living with HIV/AIDS in primary HIV care in cape town, South Africa

Erica Breuer, Kevin Stoloff, Landon Myer, Soraya Seedat, Dan J. Stein, John A. Joska

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Given the high prevalence of HIV in South Africa and co-morbid mental disorders in people living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHA) we sought to validate a brief screening tool in primary HIV care. Methods: 366 PLWHA were recruited prior to combination anti-retroviral treatment (CART) initiation from two primary health HIV clinics. A mental health nurse administered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and a lay counsellor administered the Substance and Mental Illness Symptom Screener (SAMISS). Results: Using the MINI, 17 % of participants were identified with either depression, anxiety disorders or adjustment disorder and 18 % with substance or alcohol abuse/dependence. The sensitivity and specificity of the SAMISS was 94 % (95 % CI: 88-98 %) and 58 % (95 % CI: 52-65 %) respectively, with the alcohol component (sensitivity: 94 %; specificity: 85 %) performing better than the mental illness component of the SAMISS (sensitivity: 97 %; specificity: 60 %). The specificity of the tool improved when the cut-off for the mental illness component was increased. Conclusion: The SAMISS may provide a useful first tier screening tool for common mental disorders in primary care for PLWHA.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1133-1141
Number of pages	9
Journal	AIDS and Behavior
Volume	18
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0698-y
State	Published - Jun 2014
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

HIV/AIDS
Mental illness
Screening
Sub-Saharan Africa

Access to Document

10.1007/s10461-014-0698-y

Cite this

@article{80673bf510f141e1aa9c3f50d4968617,

title = "The Validity of the substance abuse and mental illness symptom screener (SAMISS) in people living with HIV/AIDS in primary HIV care in cape town, South Africa",

abstract = "Given the high prevalence of HIV in South Africa and co-morbid mental disorders in people living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHA) we sought to validate a brief screening tool in primary HIV care. Methods: 366 PLWHA were recruited prior to combination anti-retroviral treatment (CART) initiation from two primary health HIV clinics. A mental health nurse administered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and a lay counsellor administered the Substance and Mental Illness Symptom Screener (SAMISS). Results: Using the MINI, 17 % of participants were identified with either depression, anxiety disorders or adjustment disorder and 18 % with substance or alcohol abuse/dependence. The sensitivity and specificity of the SAMISS was 94 % (95 % CI: 88-98 %) and 58 % (95 % CI: 52-65 %) respectively, with the alcohol component (sensitivity: 94 %; specificity: 85 %) performing better than the mental illness component of the SAMISS (sensitivity: 97 %; specificity: 60 %). The specificity of the tool improved when the cut-off for the mental illness component was increased. Conclusion: The SAMISS may provide a useful first tier screening tool for common mental disorders in primary care for PLWHA.",

keywords = "HIV/AIDS, Mental illness, Screening, Sub-Saharan Africa",

author = "Erica Breuer and Kevin Stoloff and Landon Myer and Soraya Seedat and Stein, {Dan J.} and Joska, {John A.}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments We would like to thank Dr Karen Jennings and the Health Management Team of the City of Cape Town for their support for this study. In particular, we would like to thank Sr Yoliswa Mtingeni, Mrs Kareema Poggenpoel, the counsellors and staff at Langa and Crossroads CHC and the study participants for their contributions to this study. The work conducted in collecting data for this paper was funded by the US President{\textquoteright}s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEP-FAR), through USAID under the terms of Award no. 674-A-00-08-00009-00 to the Anova Health Institute. EB is funded by a grant from UK aid from the UK Government. DS is funded by the Medical Research Council of South Africa. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the funders.",

year = "2014",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1007/s10461-014-0698-y",

language = "English",

volume = "18",

pages = "1133--1141",

journal = "AIDS and Behavior",

issn = "1090-7165",

publisher = "Springer New York",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Validity of the substance abuse and mental illness symptom screener (SAMISS) in people living with HIV/AIDS in primary HIV care in cape town, South Africa

AU - Breuer, Erica

AU - Stoloff, Kevin

AU - Myer, Landon

AU - Seedat, Soraya

AU - Stein, Dan J.

AU - Joska, John A.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments We would like to thank Dr Karen Jennings and the Health Management Team of the City of Cape Town for their support for this study. In particular, we would like to thank Sr Yoliswa Mtingeni, Mrs Kareema Poggenpoel, the counsellors and staff at Langa and Crossroads CHC and the study participants for their contributions to this study. The work conducted in collecting data for this paper was funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEP-FAR), through USAID under the terms of Award no. 674-A-00-08-00009-00 to the Anova Health Institute. EB is funded by a grant from UK aid from the UK Government. DS is funded by the Medical Research Council of South Africa. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the funders.

PY - 2014/6

Y1 - 2014/6

N2 - Given the high prevalence of HIV in South Africa and co-morbid mental disorders in people living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHA) we sought to validate a brief screening tool in primary HIV care. Methods: 366 PLWHA were recruited prior to combination anti-retroviral treatment (CART) initiation from two primary health HIV clinics. A mental health nurse administered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and a lay counsellor administered the Substance and Mental Illness Symptom Screener (SAMISS). Results: Using the MINI, 17 % of participants were identified with either depression, anxiety disorders or adjustment disorder and 18 % with substance or alcohol abuse/dependence. The sensitivity and specificity of the SAMISS was 94 % (95 % CI: 88-98 %) and 58 % (95 % CI: 52-65 %) respectively, with the alcohol component (sensitivity: 94 %; specificity: 85 %) performing better than the mental illness component of the SAMISS (sensitivity: 97 %; specificity: 60 %). The specificity of the tool improved when the cut-off for the mental illness component was increased. Conclusion: The SAMISS may provide a useful first tier screening tool for common mental disorders in primary care for PLWHA.

AB - Given the high prevalence of HIV in South Africa and co-morbid mental disorders in people living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHA) we sought to validate a brief screening tool in primary HIV care. Methods: 366 PLWHA were recruited prior to combination anti-retroviral treatment (CART) initiation from two primary health HIV clinics. A mental health nurse administered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and a lay counsellor administered the Substance and Mental Illness Symptom Screener (SAMISS). Results: Using the MINI, 17 % of participants were identified with either depression, anxiety disorders or adjustment disorder and 18 % with substance or alcohol abuse/dependence. The sensitivity and specificity of the SAMISS was 94 % (95 % CI: 88-98 %) and 58 % (95 % CI: 52-65 %) respectively, with the alcohol component (sensitivity: 94 %; specificity: 85 %) performing better than the mental illness component of the SAMISS (sensitivity: 97 %; specificity: 60 %). The specificity of the tool improved when the cut-off for the mental illness component was increased. Conclusion: The SAMISS may provide a useful first tier screening tool for common mental disorders in primary care for PLWHA.

KW - HIV/AIDS

KW - Mental illness

KW - Screening

KW - Sub-Saharan Africa

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905594134&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10461-014-0698-y

DO - 10.1007/s10461-014-0698-y

M3 - Article

C2 - 24452497

AN - SCOPUS:84905594134

SN - 1090-7165

VL - 18

SP - 1133

EP - 1141

JO - AIDS and Behavior

JF - AIDS and Behavior

IS - 6

ER -

The Validity of the substance abuse and mental illness symptom screener (SAMISS) in people living with HIV/AIDS in primary HIV care in cape town, South Africa

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this