Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Task Sharing for the Care of Severe Mental Disorders in a Low-income Country: a Randomised, Controlled Non-inferiority Trial
Brief Summary: Task sharing mental health care through integration of mental health into primary health care (PHC) is advocated as a means of narrowing the treatment gap for mental disorders in low-income countries. In Ethiopia, it is estimated that only around 10% of people with severe mental disorders (SMDs) ever receive evidence-based treatment for their condition, largely due to scarcity of specialist mental health services. A task-sharing model of mental health care in PHC would be more affordable and accessible to the majority of persons with SMD who do not currently receive evidence-based mental health care. Furthermore, task sharing mental health care with PHC is about to be scaled up in Ethiopia in line with the National Mental Health Strategy. However, the effectiveness of the task sharing model of mental health care for people with SMD has not been evaluated systematically in a low-income country. In this study we propose to investigate non-inferiority of a task sharing model of mental health care in PHC compared to a less accessible, but more specialist, psychiatric nurse-led model of care. The specialist model of care has been demonstrated to be acceptable and associated with improved clinical outcomes for persons with SMD engaged in the service in Ethiopia thus making this an appropriate comparison model against which to evaluate non-inferiority of the task sharing model.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* Infants aged 6-7 months at the time of recruitment into the study
* Infants currently being breastfed
* Parents (or caregivers) anticipated local residence for the study duration

Exclusion Criteria:

* Congenital or chronic abnormalities impairing feeding or physical growth measurements
* Oedema
* Severely ill or clinical complications warranting hospitalisation
B: Inclusion criteria for phase 1

* Participant in the ongoing Butajira SMD cohort study (at baseline (between 1998 and 2001), cohort participants were aged between 15 and 49 years, resident in the area for at least six months and had a DSM-IV (SCAN) diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder)
* Ongoing need for continuing mental health care due to:

  1. being on psychotropic medication at assessment or,
  2. not on medication but symptomatic at the time of assessment, or
  3. have experienced partial or full relapse within the two years preceding the assessment
* Stable clinical condition: either in remission from SMD or with residual symptoms that have been stable over the preceding three months.
* Planning to stay resident in the area for 18 months.
* Able to communicate in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia.
* Willing to be randomised to either of the service models as described in the protocol.
* Has capacity to consent to participation or permission given by guardian and not refusing to participate
* Resident in catchment area of TaSCS health centres (excluding Butajira health centre)

Exclusion criteria for phase 1

* Suicide attempt within the preceding three months
* Current active suicide intent
* Prescribed Thioridazine, Valproate, Lithium or second generation antipsychotic medications (Risperidone and Olanzapine), as these medications are not be available in psychiatric nurse-led units or PHC settings in Ethiopia. Within the Butajira SMD cohort, only people who have received care from psychiatrist-led units in the capital city, Addis Ababa, might be receiving these medications. At present, fewer than 10 patients are known to be taking one of these medications.
* Prescribed depot medication
* Complex or unstable medical condition interfering with management of psychiatric disorder or requiring ongoing medical treatment from Butajira hospital
* Alcohol or khat dependence or abuse within the last 12 months
* Pregnant or breast-feeding
* Restrained at home
* Refusing to participate in the study

Inclusion criteria for Phase 2 As for Phase 1, but if we are unable to recruit enough participants from the existing Butajira SMD cohort then we will expand recruitment to people with SMD attending the psychiatric out-patient clinic at Butajira hospital. A semi-structured diagnostic interview will be carried out to determine diagnostic eligibility (DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder). For participants recruited from Butajira hospital psychiatric out-patient clinic, the minimum age will be 25 years and the participants should have had their first contact with specialist mental health services at least two years prior to recruitment into the trial to ensure comparability with the Butajira SMD cohort sample.

Exclusion criteria for Phase 2

* Current active suicide intent
* Prescribed Thioridazine, Valproate, Lithium or second generation antipsychotic medications (Risperidone and Olanzapine).
* Pregnant or breast-feeding and prescribed depot
* Refusing to participate in the study
* Medical condition requiring ongoing medical treatment from Butajira hospital
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* Women living in intervention and comparison villages
* Mother to at least one child under 59 months old

Exclusion Criteria:

-No living child
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Children with MAM or non-complicated SAM aged 6-59 months.
* Have an acceptable appetite.judged by giving the child 30 g of RUTF and asking the mother to feed this food to the child over 20 minutes. Children with SAM who are able to consume this RUTF will be eligible for the study. Children unable to consume the RUTF or presenting with IMCI warning signs (convulsions, altered mental status, respiratory distress) will be considered to have complicated SAM and will be referred for inpatient treatment.
* Only the youngest child with malnutrition in each household will be enrolled; older siblings with MAM or SAM will be treated operationally using the same protocol.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Children with obvious chronic debilitating illness like cerebral palsy or congenital abnormalities
* Children having received treatment for MAM or SAM in the previous two months.

Answer: B