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ABSTRACT
Introduction. This report is a systematic narrative review that addresses the need for a synthesis and focuses on how mental health and mental illness have been addressed in published research in Cameroon during the period 2005–2021. Methodology. Research studies about mental health or mental illness in Cameroon, in English or French were included. Exclusion criteria included review articles, dissertations and theses, conference presentations; and articles with combined data and analysis of different locations of which the Cameroon components could not be extracted. Medline, EBSCOhost Research Databases, Google Scholar, and PubMed were searched, with the last search in December 2021. The included articles were read several times and entered into Covidence, an online review application. Information from all articles was extracted into Excel and then analyzed. 105 articles met the inclusion criteria. Results. Of these articles, half discussed mental health without using a formal diagnostic term, 68% were cross sectional, and one-third focused on HIV. Results are presented in six themes: Naming mental health; Prevalence and Incidence; Screening and Assessment; Social Pressures and Social Exclusion; Interventions; Mental health and Psychiatric systems. No studies focused on concepts or idioms related to mental health, and very few addressed treatments. Due to the many challenges of publishing and finding peer-reviewed research, some relevant studies might have been missed. This review supports the need for more locally relevant research, more support to mental health researchers through all phases of the research process, and for mental health intervention studies. Conclusion. The recent mental health strategy put forward by the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health may address some of these gaps.


RÉSUMÉ
Introduction. Ce rapport est une revue narrative systématique qui répond au besoin d'une synthèse et qui se concentre sur la manière dont la santé mentale et la maladie mentale ont été abordées dans les recherches publiées au Cameroun entre 2005 et 2021. Méthodologie. Les études de recherche portant sur la santé mentale ou la maladie mentale au Cameroun, en anglais ou en français, ont été incluses. Les critères d'exclusion comprenaient les articles de revue, les dissertations et les thèses, les présentations lors de conférences ; ainsi que les articles combinant des données et des analyses de différentes localisations dont les composantes camerounaises ne pouvaient pas être extraites. Medline, les bases de données de recherche d'EBSCOhost, Google Scholar et PubMed ont été consultés, la dernière recherche datant de décembre 2021. Les articles inclus ont été lus plusieurs fois et introduits dans Covidence, une application de revue en ligne. Les informations de tous les articles ont été extraites dans Excel puis analysées. 105 articles répondaient aux critères d'inclusion. Résultats. Parmi ces articles, la moitié traitaient de la santé mentale sans utiliser de terme diagnostique formel, 68% étaient transversaux et un tiers étaient axés sur le VIH. Les résultats sont présentés en six thèmes : dénomination de la santé mentale ; prévalence et incidence ; dépistage et évaluation ; pressions sociales et exclusion sociale ; interventions ; santé mentale et systèmes psychiatriques. Aucune étude ne s'est penchée sur les concepts ou les idiomes liés à la santé mentale, et très peu ont abordé les traitements. En raison des nombreux défis liés à la publication et à la recherche d'études évaluées par des pairs, certaines études pertinentes ont pu être manquées. Cette revue soutient la nécessité de mener des recherches plus pertinentes localement, d'apporter davantage de soutien aux chercheurs en santé mentale à toutes les phases du processus de recherche, et de réaliser des études d'intervention en santé mentale. Conclusion. La récente stratégie en matière de santé mentale présentée par le ministère de la Santé publique du Cameroun pourrait combler certaines de ces lacunes.

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Fakembe, S. P., Cockburn, L., & Wallace, L. (2023). Mental Health Research in Cameroon: a Systematic Narrative Review Spanning 2005 to 2021. HEALTH SCIENCES AND DISEASE, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.5281/hsd.v25i1.5099
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