A screening instrument for mental illness in black patients in primary health care settings

English: Mental illness is to an alarming extent undetected among black people and specifically in the Primary Health Care (PHC) setting. The main reason for this is that black people with mental health needs present with somatic symptoms. This results in unnecessary tests and inappropriate treatment. Although there is an instrument (Self Reporting Questionnaire) that was specifically designed to detect mental illness in the PHC setting, literature indicates some concerns in the usage of this instrument. This study is the development of a screening instrument to detect mental illness among black people in the PHC. A non-experimental design which explored, described, developed and assessed was used in the development of the instrument. Several research techniques were used to obtain the information on which the instrument was based, i.e. a literature survey, focus group interview, patient record audit and the Delphi technique. Thereafter the instrument was subjected to a clinical assessment. The instrument consists of two parts. Part I is very brief with the objective of identifying the need for further screening. Part II is longer and aims to identify the presence of mental illness. The clinical assessment of the instrument resulted in a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity 70%. These results are very promising especially when considering that some of the problems of the SRQ seem to be counteracted. Furthermore this is an instrument that has been developed at grass roots level. To enhance the value of the instrument the following recommendations were made. The instrument should be assessed in a broader geographical area as well as the specific time it took to implement. This may act as additional motivation for a wider application of the instrument.