BackgroundDepression is an important contributor to the global burden disease that affects people of communities all over the world. With high level of demands in academics and psychosocial pressure, medical students during their course of training tend to become depressed, leading to problems later in professional life and compromising patient care. In Cameroon, there is lack of data on the prevalence of depression and its impact on medical students. To determine the prevalence and predisposing factors associated with depression among medical students in Cameroon (preclinical and clinical). We also evaluated the impact of depression on self-reported academic performance.MethodsA cross sectional study was carried out in all 4 state medical schools in 4 different regions from December 2015 to January 2016. Diagnosis of depression, major depression and its associated factors were assessed using the 9-Item-Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and a structured questionnaire respectively. We included 618 medical students (response rate: 90.4%).ResultsAbout a third of them (30.6%, 95% CI: 22.8–36.7) were found to have major depressive disorder (PHQ Score ≥ 10). With regards to the severity of depression, 214 (34.6%), 163 (26.4%), 21 (3.4%), and 5 (0.80%) students were classified as having mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression respectively. The presence of a chronic disease (OR: 3.70, 95% CI: 1.72–7.94, p = 0.001), major life events (OR: 2.17, 95%CI: 1.32–3.58, P = 0.002), female gender (OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.06–2.37, p = 0.024) and being a student at the clinical level (OR: 4.26, 95% CI: 2.71–6.71, p < 0.001) were independently associated with depression. There was no association between depression and self-reported academic performance, (OR: 1.2, 95% CI: 0.9–1.7, p = 0.080).ConclusionThe prevalence of major depressive disorders among medical students in Cameroon is high and is associated with the presence chronic disease, major life events, female gender and being a student at the clinical level. So we recommend clinicians attending to medical students with demographic features suggestive of greater risk of depression, to make an in depth investigation on the possible presence of depression. Despite this high prevalence of major depression among medical students, it was not associated with self-reported academic performance.

BackgroundSeveral studies have reported on factors influencing adolescent pregnancies and the associated outcomes, but evidence from a systematic review is limited, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the greater burden lies. Establishment of accurate epidemiological data on the rates of adolescent pregnancy, its predictors, and adverse outcomes (maternal and neonatal) may have important implications towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.MethodsThis will be a systematic review of studies reporting predictors of adolescent pregnancy and adverse outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa published between January 2000 and December 2017. The following databases will be searched: PubMed/MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), SCOPUS, Popline, Africa Wide Information, African Index Medicus, Google scholar and the Cochrane library. Three authors will independently screen all potential articles for eligibility as guided by the selection criteria. The Stata statistical software will be used in analysing the data. Appropriate meta-analytic techniques will be used to pool prevalence estimates from studies with similar features, overall and by major subgroups as warranted. Heterogeneity of studies will be evaluated by the χ 2 test on Cochrane’s Q statistic. Publication bias will be sorted for using funnel plot analysis and Egger’s test. Qualitative synthesis will be used where data are insufficient to produce a quantitative synthesis. This protocol is reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines.DiscussionThis systematic review and meta-analysis is expected to serve as a template for designing adolescent-friendly preventive and control programmes to help curb the ever-growing burden of adolescent pregnancies, and as a guide for future research.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42017070773 Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13643-017-0650-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Studies assessing the mental health of patients with COVID-19 infection remain limited. Disasters and major emergencies, not just COVID-19, undoubtedly lead to greater incidence of mental health problems. Previous studies indicate that the novel Coronavirus disease can cause panic and stress in patients. Our literature search didn’t reveal any previous published data from Cameroon and the Central African sub-region. In order to bridge this gap, we assessed the prevalence and factors associated with depression and anxiety in COVID-19 patients. We carried out a cross-sectional study in a secondary hospital in the Littoral Region of Cameroon. We recruited hospitalised COVID-19 patients during a 4-month period. We collected data on sociodemographic characteristics. The HADS score was used to assess levels of anxiety and depression. All analysis were done using Stata 14. A P value of <0.05 was used as the cut-off for statistical significance. A total number of 285 patients took part in this study with a mean age of 48.47 years. The prevalence of anxiety in COVID-19 patients was 60.35% while the prevalence of depression was 81.40%. At multivariate logistic regression male gender (OR: 1.89, P = 0.04), hypoxaemia (OR: 2.20, P = 0.01), presence of COVID-19 complications (OR: 1.61, P = 0.02) and current episode of depression (OR: 4.14, P<0.01) were independently associated with anxiety. Similarly, age > 35 years (OR:2.03, P = 0.02), presence of comorbidity (OR: 1.68, P = 0.01), BMI > = 30kg/m2 (OR: 1.78, P = 0.02), presence of COVID-19 complications (OR: 1.28, P = 0.01) and anxiety (OR: 4.60, P<0.001) were independently associated with depression. Hospitalised patients with COVID-19 experienced high levels of anxiety and depression. Treatment of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 should therefore include psychotherapy and psychiatric support.

Background: The production of the different COVID-19 vaccines has offered hope towards controlling the pandemic. Many governments around the world have been able to secure the number of doses required for the vaccination of their entire population. In Cameroon, the government’s strategy has been to secure the number of doses required to vaccinate frontline workers and other population at risk. A threat to this strategy could be vaccine hesitancy as demonstrated in previous studies. In this article we discussed the influence of spirituality on vaccine acceptance. We also examined other factors associated with vaccine acceptance amongst healthcare workers in Cameroon. Methods: This was a cross-sectional online survey of healthcare workers in Cameroon. Data was collected using Surveysparrow and then computed into Microsoft Excel. All analysis were done using Stata 14. Results: A total number of 371 healthcare workers took part in the survey and 45.38% indicated willingness to accept the vaccine if offered. The most common reason advanced for non-acceptance of the vaccine was negative perceptions about the efficacy of the vaccines. Independent factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance following a multivariate logistic regression included: being married (AOR 1.13, p< 0.01), presence of comorbidity (AOR:2.10, p<0.02), participants who had direct contact with covid patients (AOR: 3.34, p<0.01). Spirituality level was not independently associated with vaccine acceptance (AOR: 1.12, p<0.63). Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine acceptance amongst healthcare workers in Cameroon is low. This is likely to reduce the vaccine uptake amongst healthcare workers. HCWs are in the best position to influence the uptake of these vaccines by the general population, therefore educating healthcare workers on the efficacy of these vaccines might improve their acceptance.

Armed conflicts are a major contributor to global disease burden owing to their deleterious effects on health and healthcare delivery. The Anglophone crisis in Cameroon is one of the ongoing conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa and has led to massive displacement of healthcare workers (HCWs). However, some HCWs have stayed back and continued working. An understanding of their experiences, perspectives and professional perseverance is lacking. We designed a phenomenological study using Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews to: understand the experiences of 12 HCWs in a remote hospital in the North West region of Cameroon with armed groups; evaluate how it affects healthcare delivery from HCWs perspective and examine HCWs coping mechanisms during the conflict with a view of informing HCW protection policies in conflict zones. Results revealed that HCWs go through all forms of violence including threats, assaults and murders. Overall insecurity and shortage of health personnel were major barriers to healthcare delivery which contributed to underutilization of healthcare services. Participants observed an increase in complications due to malaria, malnutrition and a rise in maternal and infant mortality. The hospital management and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played an essential role in HCWs adaptation to the crisis. Nevertheless they unanimously advocated for a cease fire to end the conflict. In the meantime, passion for their job was the main motivating factor to stay at work.

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Background: Depression in its severe form can lead to suicide. In Africa, a couple of studies have been carried to evaluate depression in medical students. These studies have provided variable findings on the prevalence of depression in medical students and associated factors. Given the considerable variability and somewhat controversial findings in the different studies, there is a need for a systematic review study to critically appraise the existing literature.Methods: This was a systematic review of studies published between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2019 in the selected databases. We used Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) combining relevant keywords to search the databases.Results: Data was extracted from 4 studies included in this review involving a total number of 1848 medical students. The prevalence of depressive symptoms range from 23.3 to 76.5% and major depression was reported in 15.6% and 30.6% of participants in 2 studies. Female gender and being a student in higher level of studies were significantly associated with depression in all included studies. Other factors associated with higher levels of depression included smoking, alcohol consumption, being unmarried, major life events, presence of other mental health condition and the presence of chronic medical condition.Conclusion: Despite paucity of research on depression among medical students in Africa, this review shows that depressive symptoms are common and associated with a number of socioeconomic factors. Being a female student and/or higher level of medical education is associated with depression. There is need for more robust studies to evaluate the impact of depression on medical students.

Introduction: Studies assessing the mental health of patients with COVID-19 infection remain limited. Disasters and major emergencies, not just COVID-19, undoubtedly lead to greater incidence of mental health problems. Previous studies indicate that the novel Coronavirus disease can cause panic and stress in patients. Our literature search didn’t reveal any previous published data from Cameroon and the Central African sub-region. In order to bridge this gap, we assessed the prevalence and factors associated with depression and anxiety in COVID-19 patients.Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study in a secondary hospital in the Littoral Region of Cameroon. We recruited hospitalised COVID-19 patients during a 4-month period. We collected data on sociodemographic characteristics. The HADS score was used to assess levels of anxiety and depression. All analysis were done using Stata 14. A P value of <0.05 was used as the cut-off for statistical significance.Results: A total number of 285 patients took part in this study with a mean age of 48.47 years. The prevalence of anxiety in COVID-19 patients was 60.35% while the prevalence of depression was 81.40%. At multivariate logistic regression male gender (OR: 1.89, P=0.04), hypoxaemia (OR: 2.20, P=0.01), presence of COVID-19 complications (OR: 1.61, P= 0.02) and current episode of depression (OR: 4.14, P<0.01) were independently associated with anxiety. Similarly, age > 35 years (OR:2.03, P= 0.02), presence of comorbidity (OR: 1.68, P= 0.01), BMI > = 30kg/m2 (OR: 1.78, P= 0.02), presence of COVID-19 complications (OR: 1.28, P= 0.01) and anxiety (OR: 4.60, P<0.001) were independently associated with depression. Conclusion: Hospitalised patients with COVID-19 experienced high levels of anxiety and depression. Treatment of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 should therefore include psychotherapy and psychiatric support.