Journal of Clinical Trials
Open Access

Quality of clinical trials for selected priority mental and neurological disorders in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review

International Conference on Clinical Trials

July 27-29, 2015 Orlando-FL, USA

Anwar Mulugeta, Girmay Medhin, Getnet Yimer and Abebaw Fekadu

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Trials

Abstract :

Background: There is a developing consensus on the effectiveness of various interventions for mental disorders in low and middle
income countries, and it has been proposed that the main task that remains is to scale up these interventions. In this context we
aimed to look at the quality and extent of intervention trials for selected priority mental and neurological disorders in sub-Saharan
Africa.
Methods: We used Medline, AJOL and Google scholar databases. Randomized or non randomized clinical trials for the treatment
of schizophrenia, depression, maternal depression, bipolar disorder and epilepsy/seizure disorders that involve pharmacotherapy,
psychotherapy andphysical therapy were included. Extensive list of search terms that identified locations, disorders, interventions
and study types were employed. The qualities of the trials were appraised using the single component quality assessment of
CONSORT-statement and the Jadad scale.
Results: From 1136 studies identified, only 34 trials that fulfilled inclusion criteria were used for quality analysis. Most studies
were clinical trials of treatments for epilepsy and conducted after 2006. In terms of region, South Africa had the lion’s share hosting
22 of the 34 studies. Pharmacotherapeutic interventions (71%), and conducted at a single center (53%) predominated. In terms
of methodological quality in relation to the Jadad scale, 82% fulfill criteria for good methodological quality with a score of 3-5.
However, the methodological quality according to the CONSORT criteria was more mixed.
Conclusions: The overall quality of clinical trials conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa is encouraging despite the limited number.
However, important quality limitations remain and have not improved over time. Establishing clinical trial centers in these
countries may be one approach to improve quality and quantity of trials.