Prevalence of Psychiatric Morbidities Among Young Adults Enrolled in Methadone Assisted Clinics in Kisauni Subcounty, Mombasa County

Abstract

Background: Half of all mental disorders in adulthood start by the age of 14, but most cases are undetected and untreated. According to the World Health Organization, mental health problems affect 10-20% of children and adolescents worldwide. Most common mental conditions affecting the young adults include depression, anxiety, social phobia and ADHD. However, there is limited data on the prevalence of these co-occurring mental disorders 12 among young adults between ages 18-35 years attending Methadone Assisted Clinics in Kenya. Purpose: This study aimed to establish the prevalence of psychiatric morbidities among young adults between ages 18 to 35 years enrolled in methadone assisted clinics in Kisauni subcounty, Mombasa County, with specific focus in Frere town and Shimo la Tewa. Method: This study adopted a cross-sectional study design where quantitative data was collected using a structured MINI 5.0 tool, and targeted all the 128 patients aged 18-35 years attending the methadone-assisted clinics in Kisauni Sub-County to be included in the study. A complete survey or complete enumeration census is a statistical investigation method in which data is collected for every element or unit of the population. After data collection, data entry and quantitative statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 23. Frequency tables, bar graphs and pie charts were used to present the socio-demographic factors and prevalence rates. Results: there was high prevalence of comorbidities among young adults enrolled in MAT clinics, with statistics indicating presence of Major Depressive Disorder at 73%. However, there was disparity related to marital status, with those who were single and divorced reporting highest incidences of psychiatric comorbidity of 26% and 14% respectively, against those who were married (7%) and widowed (2%). Individuals whose families had history of mental illness had higher chances of psychiatric disorder, with 32% confirming to have been affected as opposed to 18% of the individuals whose families did not have history of mental illness. Binary logistic regression findings showed that gender (P=0.005<0.05), age (P=0.034<0.05), level of education, (P=0.023<0.05), marital status (P=0.041<0.05), religion (P=0.007<0.05), occupation or employment status (P=0.012<0.05), and family history of mental illness (P=0.009<0.05), all significantly influenced the model or prediction. This implied that each of the predictor variables in terms of the respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics can significantly contribute to prevalence of psychiatric morbidities of the youth enrolled in MAT clinics. Conclusions: evidently, the most prevalent mental health conditions included major depressive disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Panic Disorder, Mood Disorder, and Psychotic Disorder, which all significantly aggravated deterioration of the health conditions of MAT patients. These psychiatric conditions, if not properly addressed in a timely manner, could cause more harm to the MAT patients. Additionally, socio-demographic characteristics such as occupation or employment status, religion, level of education, and gender, significantly impacted prevalence of mental health disorders among young adults enrolled in methadone assisted clinics in Kenya Recommendations: the study made the following recommendations: regular clinical assessments should be conducted among young adult MAT patients for easier and more effective management of their situations; and proper management of psychiatric morbidities is important in order to ensure quality of life for MAT patients