Authors:
Tessa Concepcion, Peter Mogere, Kenneth Ngure, Njoroge Mwathi, Roy Njiru, Boaz Kipkorir, Catherine Kiptinness, Gakuo Maina, Emmah Owidi, Tamara Owens, Pamela Kohler, Bradley H. Wagenaar, Shannon Dorsey, Pamela Y. Collins, and Jennifer Velloza
University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.
✪ Open Access
Published: September 2023
Read the full text in the open access journal Frontiers in Public Health
Abstract:
Background
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.
Methods
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.
Results
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 (n = 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, p < 0.01]. The 3 months following the SPE training resulted in an 11% relative increase in CMD screening proportion compared to the 7 months pre-SPE (RR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04–1.17, p < 0.01). Finally, 1% of all pre-SPE screens resulted in referral versus 5% of post-SPE screens (p = 0.07).
Conclusions
The SPE model is a promising implementation strategy for improving HIV provider competencies and CMD service delivery for adolescents in HIV clinics. Future research is needed to explore effects on adolescent clinical outcomes in larger trials.
**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**