Measuring psychological distress using the K10 in Kenya

Linnet Ongeri; Amantia Ametaj; Hannah Kim; Rocky E Stroud; Charles R Newton; Symon M Kariuki; Lukoye Atwoli; Edith Kwobah; Bizu Gelaye

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.02.012

Measuring psychological distress using the K10 in Kenya

J Affect Disord. 2022 Apr 15:303:155-160. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.02.012. Epub 2022 Feb 11.

Authors

Linnet Ongeri¹, Amantia Ametaj², Hannah Kim³, Rocky E Stroud⁴, Charles R Newton⁵, Symon M Kariuki⁵, Lukoye Atwoli⁶, Edith Kwobah⁷, Bizu Gelaye⁸

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Clinical Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁵ Neuroscience Department, Kenya Medical Research Institute - Wellcome Trust Research Program, Kilifi, Kenya; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁶ Department of Mental Health, Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya; Department of Internal Medicine, Medical College East Africa, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁷ Department of Mental Health, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

Background: The Kessler psychological distress scale (K10) is a brief screening tool that assesses psychological distress in both clinical and epidemiological settings. Despite wide applicability of the K10 globally, there are no data on psychometric properties of the K10 in Kenya. This study investigated the reliability, factor structure, and construct validity of the K10 as a measure of psychological distress among adults in Kenya.

Methods: A total of 2556 adults attending 11 outpatient clinics in the western and coastal regions of Kenya without a history or clinical diagnosis of psychotic disorders were included. Data were collected on demographic characteristics of the participants and the K10. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity and factor structures of the K10 were evaluated using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approaches.

Results: The mean K10 score was 3.4 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.85, indicating good internal consistency (reliability). EFA resulted in a two-factor solution that accounted for 67.6% of variance. CFA results indicated that a unidimensional model with correlated errors best fit the data.

Limitations: The K10 was only administered to a control group of our study population, which had low levels of psychological distress.

Conclusion: The K10 has good construct validity and reliability for use as a broad measure of psychological distress in Kenyan adults and may be useful in general medical setting to assess anxiety and depressive disorders.

Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; Exploratory factor analysis; K10; Kenya; Psychological distress; Psychometric properties.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Humans
Kenya / epidemiology
Psychological Distress*
Psychometrics / methods
Reproducibility of Results
Stress, Psychological* / diagnosis
Stress, Psychological* / epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding