Psychological distress and quality of life: rationale and protocol of a prospective cohort study in a rural district in Bangaladesh

Abstract

IntroductionA significant proportion of the global burden of disease has been attributed to mental and behavioural disorders. People with mental disorders (MDs) have lower levels of health-related quality of life than those without MDs. Several studies have shown that in low-resource countries, a range of social determinants including poor health literacy is critical in the epidemiological transition of disease outcome. There is a lack of evidence of MDs literacy, the prevalence and risk factors of common mental health conditions, or any validated instruments to measure psychological distress or evaluate the quality of life in rural areas of Bangladesh.AimsThe aims of this study are: (1) report the awareness, knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) of MDs; (2) estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for psychological distress; (3) measure association of psychological distress and other socio-demographic factors with quality of life and (4) test the feasibility to use Kessler 10-item (K10) and WHO Quality Of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaires in rural Bangladesh for measuring psychological distress and quality of life.Methods and analysisA sample of 1500 adults aged 18–59 years and 1200 older adults aged 60–90 years will be interviewed from a multistage cluster random sample. Each participant will go through a face-to-face interview to assess their awareness and KAP of MDs. Information about the participant’s sociodemographic and socioeconomic status will be collected along with the psychological distress (K10) and quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaires. Internal consistency, validity, reliability and item discrimination of K10 and WHOQOL-BREF instruments will be determined by using Rasch analysis and regression techniques.Ethics and disseminationHuman Ethics Approval was received from the Swinburne University of Technology Human Ethics Committee. Results of this research will be disseminated via scientific forums including peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences.

Psychometric evaluation of the modified Kessler seven-item version (K7) for measuring psychological distress using Rasch analysis: a cross-sectional study in a rural district of Bangladesh

“…The cross-sectional study recruited a multistage cluster random sample of 320 participants from the rural district Narail of Bangladesh in the period of July–August 2018. Data were collected from three unions (the smallest rural administrative units) out of nine unions, excluding the four which were selected previously from the 13 unions of Narail Upazilla 38. The selected unions are Auria, Banshgram and Bhardabila.…”

An assessment of awareness of mental health conditions and its association with socio-demographic characteristics: a cross-sectional study in a rural district in Bangladesh

“…In summary, the socio-demographic make-up of the Narail district delineated well the typical characteristics of a rural district of Bangladesh. Moreover, researchers carried out studies [32, 38, 39] in Narail district earlier and motived to advance further studies based on the population of Narail district.…”

Psychometric evaluation of an interview-administered version of the Kessler 10-item questionnaire (K10) for measuring psychological distress in rural Bangladesh

“…The study protocol, including its geographical location and population density, is described in detail elsewhere. 28 …”

“…Recruitment strategy was reported in the protocol paper. 28 To maintain an approximately equal number of male and female participants, one female was interviewed immediately after a male participant. Participants did not involve in the recruitment to and conduct of the study.…”