PI

• Dr Anam Nyembezi

Understanding the mental health disorders among males who have been traditionally circumcised

A two-phased mixed method design study undertaken in the Easter Cape province of South Africa.

Project period

01 April 2018 – 31 March 2022

Project Summary

Initiation and traditional male circumcision have become a matter of significant public health concern in recent years, following an increase in the morbidity and mortality rates resulting from botched circumcisions. As little is known about the mental health problems of traditionally initiated and circumcised men who are hospitalised, the aim of this study is to understand these problems among those admitted to a public hospital in the Eastern Cape province.

The study comprises a two-phased mixed method design. Phase 1 was a formative qualitative study intended to gain deeper knowledge of health worker insights into the mental health of traditionally initiated and circumcised men – to better understand the surveillance systems and strategies for monitoring mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress. In mid-2019 in-depth interviews were conducted with five participants (two doctors, a nurse, a counsellor and an administrator) during which three broad reasons for hospital admissions by these young men were identified: debridement, assault and dehydration. Reported mental health symptoms were anxiety (“from fear of being at the hospital to fear of not knowing what was about to happen”), post-traumatic stress (“scream without touching his limb”), psychosis (“seeing rats”), and depression (“being mute – sit there and not talk to others”). Challenges faced during the admission were the lack of mental health services, staff, assessment tools and privacy.  

Phase 2 will seek to ascertain the utilisation of mental health care services by traditionally initiated and circumcised men, to identify contextual factors that enable or prevent their use and implementation of the systems and strategies that are needed.

The project is a partnership with Walter Sisulu University and the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital

Funders

• South African Medical Research Council.

Partners and Collaborators

• Walter Sisulu University
• Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital