Identifying cases of common mental disorders in the context of HIV care in low and middle income countries.

One of the key behavioural factors inhibiting adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the presence of common mental disorders (CMDs). Correct identification of CMDs can facilitate referral for treatment, the amelioration of symptoms, and consequently improved adherence to ART. To save time and resources, screening is an alternative to conducting diagnostic interviews in case identification. However, an elevated score on a screening instrument does not indicate caseness for a mental health condition, given poor sensitivity and low positive predictive values of many screeners. A large number of false positives means that many people would be incorrectly identified as having a mental health condition and inappropriately referred for treatment. A large number of false negatives means that people who actually require treatment will not be identified as such and may thus go untreated. Thus it is recommended that public health services in low resource countries consider a two-stage approach to screening. When implementing routine screening, only those persons who screen above a commonly used cut-point would undergo a diagnostic interview to determine the presence of a common mental disorder. True cases may then be referred for treatment where these are available, such as anti-depressive medication or psychological treatment.