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Spatial Modeling of Mental Health on Outpatient Morbidity in Kenya

Received: 20 May 2025     Accepted: 3 June 2025     Published: 25 June 2025
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Abstract

The cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning of humans is greatly impacted by mental health issues. An increasing public health concern in Kenya is outpatient mental health morbidity. The geographic distribution of these symptoms and their correlation with infectious diseases have not, however, been thoroughly investigated. The objective of this research was to investigate the spatial distribution of mental health conditions in Kenya and their correlation with infectious diseases, including HIV, TB, and STIs. To evaluate the regional distribution of outpatient mental health cases, a spatial modeling approach was used. In order to find high-prevalence regions and possible links, the study used geostatistical approaches to integrate epidemiological data on infectious diseases and mental health issues. The results showed that mental health issues were not evenly distributed, with a higher emphasis in Nairobi and the Western areas. Infectious diseases and mental health disorders were shown to be strongly correlated, indicating possible connections between these health costs. High accuracy and validity were displayed by the spatial model, which provided insightful information for planning interventions and allocating resources. The distribution of mental health disorders and its relationship to infectious diseases in Kenya are better understood thanks to this study. The results emphasize the necessity of locally focused mental health treatments, especially in high-risk areas. These insights can be used by policymakers to enhance mental health services accessibility, optimize healthcare methods, and create integrated treatment plans for people with co-occurring disorders.

Published in Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Volume 13, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11
Page(s) 45-55
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Mental Health, Infectious Diseases, Outpatient Morbidity, Spatial Modeling, Policy, Data, Treatment, Conditional Autoregressive

References
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[2] Prince, M., Patel, V., Saxena, S., Maj, M., Maselko, J., Phillips, M. R., & Rahman, A. (2007). No health without mental health. The Lancet, 370(9590), 859–877.
[3] Meyer, A. C., & Ndetei, D. (2016, February). Providing sustainable mental health care in Kenya: A demonstration project. In Providing sustainable mental and neurological health care in Ghana and Kenya: Workshop summary. National Academies Press (US).
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[6] World Health Organization. (2001). The world health report 2001: Mental health—New understanding, new hope. World Health Organization.
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[9] Persad, R. A. (2020). Spatio-temporal analysis of mental illness and the impact of marginalization-based factors: A case study of Ontario, Canada. Annals of GIS, 26(3), 237–250.
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[12] Gaglioti, A. H., Petterson, S., Bazemore, A., & Phillips, R. (2017). Access to primary care in US counties is associated with lower rates of mental health hospitalizations. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 30(4), 404–413.
[13] Rao, D., Chen, W. T., Pearson, C. R., Simoni, J. M., Fredriksen-Goldsen, K., Nelson, K.,... & Zhang, F. (2012). Social support mediates the relationship between HIV stigma and depression/quality of life among people living with HIV in Beijing, China. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 23(7), 481–484.
[14] Gruebner, O., Rapp, M. A., Adli, M., Kluge, U., Galea, S., & Heinz, A. (2017). Cities and mental health. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 114(8), 121–127.
[15] Wang, P. S., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Angermeyer, M. C., Borges, G., Bromet, E. J., Bruffaerts, R., de Girolamo, G., de Graaf, R., Gureje, O., Haro, J. M., Karam, E. G., Kessler, R. C., Kovess, V., Lane, M. C., Lee, S., Levinson, D., Ono, Y., Petukhova, M.,... & Wells, J. E. (2007). Use of mental health services for anxiety, mood, and substance disorders in 17 countries in the WHO world mental health surveys. The Lancet, 370(9590), 841–850.
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  • APA Style

    Wambui, N. R., Samuel, M., Charity, W. (2025). Spatial Modeling of Mental Health on Outpatient Morbidity in Kenya. Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, 13(3), 45-55. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11

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    ACS Style

    Wambui, N. R.; Samuel, M.; Charity, W. Spatial Modeling of Mental Health on Outpatient Morbidity in Kenya. Sci. J. Appl. Math. Stat. 2025, 13(3), 45-55. doi: 10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11

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    AMA Style

    Wambui NR, Samuel M, Charity W. Spatial Modeling of Mental Health on Outpatient Morbidity in Kenya. Sci J Appl Math Stat. 2025;13(3):45-55. doi: 10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11,
      author = {Ndegwa Ruth Wambui and Mwalili Samuel and Wamwea Charity},
      title = {Spatial Modeling of Mental Health on Outpatient Morbidity in Kenya
    },
      journal = {Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics},
      volume = {13},
      number = {3},
      pages = {45-55},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjams.20251303.11},
      abstract = {The cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning of humans is greatly impacted by mental health issues. An increasing public health concern in Kenya is outpatient mental health morbidity. The geographic distribution of these symptoms and their correlation with infectious diseases have not, however, been thoroughly investigated. The objective of this research was to investigate the spatial distribution of mental health conditions in Kenya and their correlation with infectious diseases, including HIV, TB, and STIs. To evaluate the regional distribution of outpatient mental health cases, a spatial modeling approach was used. In order to find high-prevalence regions and possible links, the study used geostatistical approaches to integrate epidemiological data on infectious diseases and mental health issues. The results showed that mental health issues were not evenly distributed, with a higher emphasis in Nairobi and the Western areas. Infectious diseases and mental health disorders were shown to be strongly correlated, indicating possible connections between these health costs. High accuracy and validity were displayed by the spatial model, which provided insightful information for planning interventions and allocating resources. The distribution of mental health disorders and its relationship to infectious diseases in Kenya are better understood thanks to this study. The results emphasize the necessity of locally focused mental health treatments, especially in high-risk areas. These insights can be used by policymakers to enhance mental health services accessibility, optimize healthcare methods, and create integrated treatment plans for people with co-occurring disorders.
    },
     year = {2025}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Spatial Modeling of Mental Health on Outpatient Morbidity in Kenya
    
    AU  - Ndegwa Ruth Wambui
    AU  - Mwalili Samuel
    AU  - Wamwea Charity
    Y1  - 2025/06/25
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11
    T2  - Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
    JF  - Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
    JO  - Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
    SP  - 45
    EP  - 55
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2376-9513
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20251303.11
    AB  - The cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning of humans is greatly impacted by mental health issues. An increasing public health concern in Kenya is outpatient mental health morbidity. The geographic distribution of these symptoms and their correlation with infectious diseases have not, however, been thoroughly investigated. The objective of this research was to investigate the spatial distribution of mental health conditions in Kenya and their correlation with infectious diseases, including HIV, TB, and STIs. To evaluate the regional distribution of outpatient mental health cases, a spatial modeling approach was used. In order to find high-prevalence regions and possible links, the study used geostatistical approaches to integrate epidemiological data on infectious diseases and mental health issues. The results showed that mental health issues were not evenly distributed, with a higher emphasis in Nairobi and the Western areas. Infectious diseases and mental health disorders were shown to be strongly correlated, indicating possible connections between these health costs. High accuracy and validity were displayed by the spatial model, which provided insightful information for planning interventions and allocating resources. The distribution of mental health disorders and its relationship to infectious diseases in Kenya are better understood thanks to this study. The results emphasize the necessity of locally focused mental health treatments, especially in high-risk areas. These insights can be used by policymakers to enhance mental health services accessibility, optimize healthcare methods, and create integrated treatment plans for people with co-occurring disorders.
    
    VL  - 13
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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