The 5-Item Who Well-Being Index as a Screening Tool for Depression in a Population of Doctors and Nurses in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Le résumé fourni par la source

Background: Undetected depression can result in a significant decline in productivity among the workforce in every system, the healthcare sector inclusive. It is vital to utilize brief screening tools to detect populations at risk of depression. The 5-item WHO Well-being Index (WHO-5) has been used as a screening measure for depression, but research on this is scarce in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to determine the utility and validity of the WHO-5 in screening for depression in a population of doctors and nurses in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A representative sample of medical doctors and nurses across Nigeria (n = 464), completed the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results: The pattern of factors associated with cases of a positive depression screening was considerably similar for the WHO-5 and the PHQ-9. At a cut-off score of 50 for the WHO-5, the sensitivity and specificity values obtained were 0.857 and 0.851 respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 0.404 and 0.981 respectively. ROC analysis of the WHO-5 against the PHQ-9 revealed that, at a cut-off of 50, the sensitivity of the WHO-5 was 0.857, 1-specificity was 0.152. The AUC was 0.918 (95% CI 0.884-0.953). Also, there was a strong, negative correlation between the WHO and the PHQ-9 scores (r = -0.590, p ≤ 0.0001). Conclusion: The WHO-5 well-being index has satisfactory validity as a screening tool for the detection of depression. It is also feasible for use in very busy settings, because of its brevity and ease of administration.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.