Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample

Abstract Background The evaluation of treatment outcomes is important for service providers to assess if there is improvement or not. The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) was developed for this use in child and adolescent mental health services. Outcome meas...

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Main Authors: Grace Nduku Wambua, Manasi Kumar, Fredrik Falkenström, Pim Cuijpers
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2021-09-01
Series:BMC Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03438-1
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spelling doaj-946b10b0705248e0816b13a6ab73decc2021-09-12T11:07:04ZengBMCBMC Psychiatry1471-244X2021-09-012111710.1186/s12888-021-03438-1Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sampleGrace Nduku Wambua0Manasi Kumar1Fredrik Falkenström2Pim Cuijpers3Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamDepartment of Psychiatry, University of NairobiDepartment of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping UniversityDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamAbstract Background The evaluation of treatment outcomes is important for service providers to assess if there is improvement or not. The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) was developed for this use in child and adolescent mental health services. Outcome measurement in routine mental health services is limited. This paper evaluates the psychometric properties of the self and clinician rated versions of the HoNOSCA for routine use in child and adolescent mental health services in Kenya. Methods Using a prospective design, the clinician- and self-rated versions of the HoNOSCA and the Paediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) were administered at the Youth Centre at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. Initial ratings were obtained from adolescents 12-17 years (n = 201). A sample of 98 paired ratings with 2 follow-ups were examined for measurement of change over time. Results Our findings showed good reliability with the self-rated version of the HoNOSCA score, correlating well with the self-reported version of the PSC (r = .74, p < .001). Both versions correlated well at follow-up and were sensitive to change. Using factor analysis, the maximum likelihood factoring and Promax rotation resulted in a four-factor structure, which with a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy of 0.8 explained 54.74% of total variance. Conclusion The HoNOSCA appears to be of value, and easy to use in routine settings. Our findings suggest further investigation with a larger sample.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03438-1AdolescentsRoutine outcomesHoNOSCAReliabilityValidity
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Grace Nduku Wambua
Manasi Kumar
Fredrik Falkenström
Pim Cuijpers
spellingShingle Grace Nduku Wambua
Manasi Kumar
Fredrik Falkenström
Pim Cuijpers
Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample
BMC Psychiatry
Adolescents
Routine outcomes
HoNOSCA
Reliability
Validity
author_facet Grace Nduku Wambua
Manasi Kumar
Fredrik Falkenström
Pim Cuijpers
author_sort Grace Nduku Wambua
title Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample
title_short Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample
title_full Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample
title_fullStr Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample
title_full_unstemmed Routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of HoNOSCA in Kenyan sample
title_sort routine outcome measurement in adolescents seeking mental health services: standardization of honosca in kenyan sample
publisher BMC
series BMC Psychiatry
issn 1471-244X
publishDate 2021-09-01
description Abstract Background The evaluation of treatment outcomes is important for service providers to assess if there is improvement or not. The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) was developed for this use in child and adolescent mental health services. Outcome measurement in routine mental health services is limited. This paper evaluates the psychometric properties of the self and clinician rated versions of the HoNOSCA for routine use in child and adolescent mental health services in Kenya. Methods Using a prospective design, the clinician- and self-rated versions of the HoNOSCA and the Paediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) were administered at the Youth Centre at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. Initial ratings were obtained from adolescents 12-17 years (n = 201). A sample of 98 paired ratings with 2 follow-ups were examined for measurement of change over time. Results Our findings showed good reliability with the self-rated version of the HoNOSCA score, correlating well with the self-reported version of the PSC (r = .74, p < .001). Both versions correlated well at follow-up and were sensitive to change. Using factor analysis, the maximum likelihood factoring and Promax rotation resulted in a four-factor structure, which with a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy of 0.8 explained 54.74% of total variance. Conclusion The HoNOSCA appears to be of value, and easy to use in routine settings. Our findings suggest further investigation with a larger sample.
topic Adolescents
Routine outcomes
HoNOSCA
Reliability
Validity
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03438-1
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