Currently submitted to: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jan 22, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 22, 2026 - Mar 19, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Late Detection and Management of Childhood Mental Disorders in Umzimvubu Hospitals, Alfred Nzo District, South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Survey Protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Childhood mental health conditions remain a major public health concern, particularly in low-resource environments such as rural districts in South Africa. Disorders such as anxiety, depression, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorders are frequently undetected or diagnosed at advanced stages, leading to ineffective management and long-term negative consequences for children’s development and well-being.
Objective:
This study aims to investigate the factors contributing to the late detection and management of childhood mental health disorders in hospitals within the Umzimvubu Local Municipality, Alfred Nzo District, Eastern Cape Province.
Methods:
A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive survey design will be used. All hospitals in Umzimvubu will be included, and a simple random sampling method will be applied manually to select health professionals meeting the study’s inclusion criteria. Online structured questionnaires will be used to collect data.
Results:
The study protocol has been approved by the University of Venda Higher Degrees Committee and the Research Ethics Committee. Permission from the Eastern Cape Department of Health has been obtained, and site approvals from Alfred Nzo District manager and hospital CEOs are pending. Pretesting and data collection are scheduled to occur in January 2026. Data analysis will be conducted using SPSS version 29. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression will be used to identify factors associated with late detection and management of childhood mental disorders. Results will be presented in tables and graphs.
Conclusions:
This protocol outlines a study aimed at identifying factors contributing to the late detection and management of childhood mental disorders in hospitals within Umzimvubu Local Municipality. The findings are expected to inform strategies for improving early diagnosis and management, guiding policy development, and strengthening mental health services in rural South Africa.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.