Anne M. De Graaff (Netherlands)
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology
I am a PhD student in clinical psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (the Netherlands), supervised by prof. dr. Marit Sijbrandij and prof. dr. Pim Cuijpers. The focus of my PhD project is on improving access to mental health care services for Syrian refugees, for which I'm involved in two research projects: 1) The STRENGTHS project: A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Problem Management Plus (PM+) in reducing psychological distress in Syrian refugees in the Netherlands (www.STRENGTHS-project.eu). 2) The SCALES-S project: An ancillary project of STRENGTHS (www.scales-s-project.com), in which we examine the prevalence of common mental disorders in Syrian refugees in the Netherlands, as well as the psychometric properties of brief psychological screening instruments to detect common mental disorders in Syrian refugees.

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 Conference Calendar

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Self-Report Screening Instruments for Common Mental Disorders in Arabic-Speaking Adults

Session Name
1700 - On Demand - Oral Communication 10: Mental Health Care 1 / Cultural Psychiatry (ID 351)
Session Type
Oral Communication
Date
Mon, 06.06.2022
Session Time
10:00 - 11:30
Room
Hall F
Session Icon
On Demand
Presenter
Lecture Time
10:48 - 10:56

Abstract

Introduction

Self-report questionnaires to screen for symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs) are commonly used as inexpensive, easy-to-administer tools in research and clinical practice. However, their validity to detect the presence of any CMD across cultures and languages is unclear. Psychometrically sound and brief case-finding instruments are vital for the identification of individuals with mental health needs. With the increasing number of Arabic-speaking refugees in Europe, we aim to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Arabic-language screening instruments.

Objectives

The aim of this systematic review/meta-analysis is to synthesize the diagnostic accuracy of self-report questionnaires to detect depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Arabic-speaking populations.

Methods

Five databases were searched (inception-January 2021) (PROSPERO: CRD42018070645) for studies on the diagnostic accuracy of brief questionnaires in Arabic-speaking populations, with a clinical interview as reference standard. Data on sensitivity/specificity were extracted/calculated. Multi-threshold meta-analyses were performed (R diagmeta package). Study quality was assessed using QUADAS-2.

Results

We included 32 studies (N=4042 participants) reporting on questionnaires targeting depression/anxiety (14 questionnaires), distress (2 questionnaires), and PTSD (1 questionnaire). Optimal thresholds were identified for the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; cut-off 11, sensitivity 76.9%, specificity 85.1%), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) anxiety subscale (cut-off 7, sensitivity 81.9%, specificity 87.6%), depression subscale (cut-off 6, sensitivity 73.0%, specificity 88.6%), and Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20; cut-off 8, sensitivity 86.0%, specificity 83.9%).

Conclusions

We present optimal thresholds that can be used by clinicians and researchers for the EPDS, HADS and SRQ-20. More research on Arabic-language questionnaires, especially those targeting PTSD, is needed.

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