Screening for common mental disorders in caregivers of children with severe acute malnutrition in a nutritional rehabilitation centre using the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire- 20

A high number of caregivers of children admitted for inpatient treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), experience psychological distress. It is essential for the caregiver, generally the mother, to feed, hold, comfort, and play with her child as much as possible to promote opportunities for early learning and faster recovery from SAM. Hence, identification of mental health issues among the caregivers is imperative. Using WHO Self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ) 20 score to screen for common mental disorders (CMD) of caregivers of children admitted with SAM. The primary caregiver was interviewed using WHO SRQ-20 scoring. Based on the questions answered YES, the total score was given. A total score of > 8 was considered as a positive screen. These positive-screened caregivers were forwarded to a psychologist. We also compared the CMD prevalence between caregivers of children with primary SAM versus those with secondary SAM. There were a total of 29.1% (n=60) of the caregivers who were screened positive for CMD. The category of CMD most prevalent on screening was somatic issues, followed by depression, anxiety, and cognitive symptoms. Caregivers of children with pre-existing co-morbidity were higher in number than those without one on a positive screen. Maternal mental health is widely neglected, especially in an NRC setting across the country. For mothers of children with severe wasting, underlying mental stressors are significant contributors to the child’s malnourished state. Through this study, we hope to incorporate maternal mental health screening in NRCs for better management of these cases.