Systematic review identifies effective mental health screening tools for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, suggesting urgent need for context-specific adaptations.
Key Points
This review aims to identify and assess the diagnostic accuracy of mental health screening tools for adolescents aged 12–18 in sub-Saharan Africa.
Systematic search of multiple databases for validation studies of mental health screening tools published from 2000 to 2024.
Pooled sensitivity and specificity estimated using hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic models.
Study quality assessed with the QUADAS-2 tool, analyzing for heterogeneity and publication bias using I ² statistic and funnel plots.
128 studies included, covering 26 mental health disorders, with 60% rated high risk of bias in at least one QUADAS-2 domain.
Only 21 of 48 sub-Saharan African countries had validated at least one screening tool.
Meta-analysis focused on four tools for depression, showing significant heterogeneity and no publication bias for certain tools.