Selected contributions to global health neurology and psychiatry from JoGH group journals in 2022

JoGH Neurology and Psychiatry Editorial Team

doi:10.7189/001c.159239

In 2022, the journals within the Journal of Global Health (JoGH) group published a broad and policy-relevant body of work addressing themes in global health neurology and psychiatry. Their output reflected a notably broad and mature interpretation of brain and mental health within global health. Rather than treating neurology and psychiatry as narrow specialist domains, the papers collectively situated them within systems of care, social adversity, infectious disease, early life development, workforce resilience, and health policy. This breadth is perhaps the most striking feature of the year’s output: mental and neurological health was presented as deeply interwoven with the functioning of societies and health systems.

One major theme was the burden of common mental disorders and psychological distress in populations exposed to high levels of strain. Several papers focused on depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included work on health care providers in five sub-Saharan African countries, first responders to medical emergencies, and populations in developing countries more generally. Together, these studies conveyed a strong message that the pandemic was both a biomedical crisis and a profound mental health shock that affected frontline workers and vulnerable populations in enduring ways. The emphasis on systematic reviews and meta-analyses in this area also suggests that the field was moving beyond anecdotal concern toward attempts to quantify prevalence and identify patterns across contexts.

A second important theme was the adaptation of mental health care for low-resource settings. Particularly noteworthy were studies on psychosocial interventions delivered by non-specialists to people living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries, and the cluster-randomized trial of multi-modal cognitive behavioural therapy for caregivers of children with disabilities in urban Uganda. These papers aligned closely with one of the most pressing priorities in global mental health: how to expand access where specialist workforces are scarce. The message emerging from this body of work is pragmatic and encouraging, showing that effective support may be deliverable through task-sharing and community-oriented models, provided that interventions are culturally adapted.

A third theme concerned mental health systems and policy infrastructure. The paper setting UK research priorities for difficult-to-treat depression stood out as a contribution to agenda-setting, while the multi-country analysis of the availability of essential psychiatric medicines addressed one of the most basic determinants of treatment access. Equally important was the analysis of long-term changes in psychiatric bed numbers and prison populations in sub-Saharan Africa. This brought in a structural and rights-based perspective, reminding readers that psychiatric care cannot be assessed only through symptom prevalence or intervention trials; it must also be understood through institutional capacity, patterns of deinstitutionalisation or neglect, and the relationship between mental illness and carceral systems. This systems-level perspective gave the year’s output substantial policy relevance.

Another strong thread ran through life-course and developmental perspectives on brain and mental health. The review of adverse childhood experiences and diabetes linked early psychological and social trauma to later-life physical disease, reinforcing the now increasingly important idea that mental, social, and metabolic health are interconnected across the lifespan. Similarly, the review of breastfeeding and cognitive development in sub-Saharan Africa highlighted early nurturing environments as determinants of later human capital. The paper confirming decreasing ADHD prevalence across the adult lifespan added a more classical psychiatric epidemiology dimension, while work on neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy and meningitis in children brought neurological conditions into the same broad developmental frame. These studies collectively underscored that neurology and psychiatry in global health begin long before adulthood and often long before formal diagnosis.

The 2022 collection also demonstrated that the boundaries between neurology, psychiatry, and public health are increasingly blurred. Some papers were directly psychiatric, others neurological, and several sat at the intersection of neurodevelopment, cognition, behaviour, and social functioning. This interdisciplinary approach is a strength. It reflects a field that is moving away from siloed thinking and toward recognition that brain health is shaped by infection, nutrition, caregiving, trauma, education, medicine availability, and health system design.

This year’s output of the JoGH group’s papers shows the value of publishing across the full continuum: epidemiology, evidence synthesis, intervention trials, service delivery, health systems, and policy priority setting. It also shows that global neurology and psychiatry are most compelling when they remain connected to the realities of low-resource settings, vulnerable populations, and long-term developmental trajectories. Overall, the 2022 papers presented a field that is expanding in sophistication, relevance, and methodological range, while remaining closely anchored to the central global health goals of equity, access, and prevention. Below, we present our selection of these contributions, listed in reverse chronological order of publication:

Namasaba M, Nabunje S, Baguwemu AA. Effectiveness of multi-modal cognitive behavioural therapy in improving mental well-being among caregivers of children with disabilities in urban Uganda: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. J Glob Health. 2022 Dec 22;12:04102.
Chapman N, Browning M, Baghurst D, Hotopf M, Willis D, Haylock S, Zakaria S, Speechley J, Withey J, Brooks E, Chan F, Pappa S, Geddes J, Insole L, Mohammed Z, Kessler D, Jones PB, Mansoori P; Difficult to Treat Depression Research Priority Setting Group. Setting national research priorities for difficult-to-treat depression in the UK between 2021-2026. J Glob Health. 2022 Dec 22;12:09004.
Assefa N, Abdullahi YY, Hemler EC, Lankoande B, Wang D, Madzorera I, Millogo O, Abokyi LN, Dasmane D, Dianou K, Chukwu A, Workneh F, Mapendo F, Ismail A, Abubakari SW, Smith E, Oduola A, Soura A, Sie A, Killewo J, Mwanyika-Sando M, Vuai SAH, Baernighausen T, Asante KP, Raji T, Berhane Y, Fawzi WW. Continued disruptions in health care services and mental health among health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in five sub-Saharan African countries. J Glob Health. 2022 Nov 12;12:05046.
Zhu S, Shan S, Liu W, Li S, Hou L, Huang X, Liu Y, Yi Q, Sun W, Tang K, Adeloye D, Rudan I, Song P; Global Health Epidemiology Research Group (GHERG). Adverse childhood experiences and risk of diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2022 Nov 2;12:04082.
Huang G, Lee TY, Banda KJ, Pien LC, Jen HJ, Chen R, Liu D, Hsiao SS, Chou KR. Prevalence of sleep disorders among first responders for medical emergencies: A meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2022 Oct 20;12:04092.
Mohammed S, Oakley LL, Marston M, Glynn JR, Calvert C. The association of breastfeeding with cognitive development and educational achievement in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2022 Sep 3;12:04071.
Mundt AP, Langerfeldt SD, Maphisa JM, Sourabié O, Yongsi BN, Serri ER, Bukasa Tshilonda JC, Te JH, Bitta MA, Mathe L, Liwimbi O, Dos Santos PF, Atilola O, Jansen S, Diegane Tine JA, Akran C, Jalloh A, Kagee A, Van Wyk ES, Forry JB, Imasiku ML, Chigiji H, Priebe S. Changes in rates of psychiatric beds and prison populations in sub-Saharan Africa from 1990 to 2020. J Glob Health. 2022 Sep 3;12:04054.
Du Zeying M, Ashcroft T, Kulkarni D, Sawrikar V, Jackson CA. Psychosocial interventions for depression delivered by non-mental health specialists to people living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2022 Jun 11;12:04049.
Rahman MA, Babaye Y, Bhat A, Collins PY, Kemp CG. Availability of two essential medicines for mental health in Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Nepal, Malawi, Senegal, and Tanzania: Evidence from nationally representative samples of 7958 health facilities. J Glob Health. 2022 Aug 1;12:04063.
Huang G, Chu H, Chen R, Liu D, Banda KJ, O’Brien AP, Jen HJ, Chiang KJ, Chiou JF, Chou KR. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among first responders for medical emergencies during COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2022 Jul 25;12:05028.
Vos M, Hartman CA. The decreasing prevalence of ADHD across the adult lifespan confirmed. J Glob Health. 2022 Jun 15;12:03024.
Chen J, Zhang SX, Yin A, Yáñez JA. Mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2022 May 23;12:05011.
Mathew JL, Kaur N, Dsouza JM. Therapeutic hypothermia in neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2022 Apr 9;12:04030.
Park JJ, Narayanan S, Tiefenbach J, Lukšić I, Ale BM, Adeloye D, Rudan I. Estimating the global and regional burden of meningitis in children caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2022 Mar 5;12:04014.

We trust that the readers of the Journal of Global Health Neurology and Psychiatry will find these studies valuable for informing research, policy, and practice across diverse global contexts.