Higher rates of mental health screening of adolescents recorded after provider training using simulated patients in a Kenyan HIV clinic: results of a pilot study

• Published in: Frontiers in public health 2023-09, Vol.11, p.1209525-1209525
• Main Authors: Concepcion, Tessa, Mogere, Peter, Ngure, Kenneth, Mwathi, Njoroge, Njiru, Roy, Kipkorir, Boaz, Kiptinness, Catherine, Maina, Gakuo, Owidi, Emmah, Owens, Tamara, Kohler, Pamela, Wagenaar, Bradley H, Dorsey, Shannon, Collins, Pamela Y, Velloza, Jennifer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Female; global mental health; HIV; HIV Infections - drug therapy; Humans; implementation strategies; Kenya; Mental Health; Pilot Projects; Public Health; service integration; simulated patient encounters
• ISSN: 2296-2565; 2296-2565
• DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1209525

Kenyan adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) experience a dual burden of HIV and common mental disorders (CMD). HIV clinics are a key entry point for AGYW in need of integrated CMD and HIV care; however, rates of screening and referral for CMDs are low. Our objective was to test an evidence-based provider training strategy, simulated patient encounters (SPEs), on CMD service delivery for AGYW in a Kenyan HIV clinic. This pilot study was conducted in a public HIV clinic in Thika, Kenya from January to November 2021. The simulated patient encounter (SPE) implementation strategy included case script development from prior qualitative work, patient actor training, and a three-day SPE training including four standardized mock clinical encounters followed by quantitative surveys assessing provider competencies for each encounter. We abstracted medical record data related to HIV and CMDs such as HIV status, reason for visit, CMD screening test performed, and counselling or referral information. We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using abstracted HIV and CMD screening rates from AGYW ages 16-25 years visiting the clinic 7 months before and 3 months after SPE training. We used generalized linear models to assess changes in CMD screening rates after training. A total of 10 providers participated in the training. Competency ratings improved across four mock encounters (mean score from 8.1 to 13.7) between first and fourth encounters. We abstracted all medical records (  = 1,154) including from 888 (76%) AGYW seeking HIV treatment, 243 (21%) seeking prevention services, and 34 (3%) seeking other services. CMD screening rates increased immediately following training from 8 to 21% [relative risk (RR) = 2.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.34-4.90,