Summary

Prof. Lukoye Atwoli is currently on sabbatical leave from the department of Mental Health at the School of Medicine, serving as Professor of Psychiatry and Dean of the Medical College East Africa, Aga Khan University.

Prof. Atwoli is also a social and health rights advocate and has influenced and participated in the development of numerous policies and programmes in Kenya. He currently serves as the President-Elect of the African College of NeuroPsychopharmacology (AfCNP) and is the Secretary-General of the African Association of Psychiatrists. He has served on the Kenyan Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board as well on several advisory boards nationally and internationally.

Prof. Atwoli is the Chairperson of the Board of the Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital, the premier mental health referral Hospital in Kenya.

Prof. Atwoli also writes a weekly column in the Sunday Nation (https://www.nation.co.ke/authors/1959272-1951794-mvlhjwz/index.html) through which he dissects social issues in Kenya and beyond.

Research interests in: Trauma and PTSD; Genetics of Mental Disorders; and Student mental health.

Scholarly works may be found on Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&authuser=1&user=kdonq8MAAAAJ), Researchgate (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lukoye_Atwoli) and Mendeley (https://www.mendeley.com/profiles/lukoye-atwoli/)

Achievements:

Steered Moi University School of Medicine in developing 16 postgraduate and revising four undergraduate curricula, as well as digitizing content to ease access for the learners
Led the shift of focus of the Moi University School of Medicine towards more graduate studies and research, in an endeavour to become a leading research medical school in Africa
Leading and participating in numerous mental health research efforts, including the NeuroGAP-Psychosis project, the World Mental Health Surveys Initiative, the OSCAR project, and IeDEA

Participated in the development of various national policies, including:

Kenya's Mental Health Policy
National Disaster Management Policy
National Policy on internal displacement
Policy framework for a National Values System for Kenya

Recent Publications

Koenen KC, Ratanatharathorn A, Ng L, McLaughlin KA, Bromet EJ, Stein DJ, Karam EG, {Meron Ruscio} A, Benjet C, Scott K. {Posttraumatic stress disorder in the World Mental Health Surveys}. Psychological Medicine. 2017;47.Abstract

Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017. Background Traumatic events are common globally; however, comprehensive population-based cross-national data on the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the paradigmatic trauma-related mental disorder, are lacking. Methods Data were analyzed from 26 population surveys in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. A total of 71 083 respondents ages 18+ participated. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview assessed exposure to traumatic events as well as 30-day, 12-month, and lifetime PTSD. Respondents were also assessed for treatment in the 12 months preceding the survey. Age of onset distributions were examined by country income level. Associations of PTSD were examined with country income, world region, and respondent demographics. Results The cross-national lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 3.9{%} in the total sample and 5.6{%} among the trauma exposed. Half of respondents with PTSD reported persistent symptoms. Treatment seeking in high-income countries (53.5{%}) was roughly double that in low-lower middle income (22.8{%}) and upper-middle income (28.7{%}) countries. Social disadvantage, including younger age, female sex, being unmarried, being less educated, having lower household income, and being unemployed, was associated with increased risk of lifetime PTSD among the trauma exposed. Conclusions PTSD is prevalent cross-nationally, with half of all global cases being persistent. Only half of those with severe PTSD report receiving any treatment and only a minority receive specialty mental health care. Striking disparities in PTSD treatment exist by country income level. Increasing access to effective treatment, especially in low- and middle-income countries, remains critical for reducing the population burden of PTSD.

Embleton L, Nyandat J, Ayuku D, Sang E, Kamanda A, Ayaya S, Nyandiko W, Gisore P, Vreeman R, Atwoli L. {Sexual Behavior Among Orphaned Adolescents in Western Kenya: A Comparison of Institutional- and Family-Based Care Settings}. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2017;60.Abstract

© 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine Purpose This study sought to assess whether risky sexual behaviors and sexual exploitation of orphaned adolescents differed between family-based and institutional care environments in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Methods We analyzed baseline data from a cohort of orphaned adolescents aged 10–18 years living in 300 randomly selected households and 19 charitable children's institutions. The primary outcomes were having ever had consensual sex, number of sex partners, transactional sex, and forced sex. Multivariate logistic regression compared these between participants in institutional care and family-based care while adjusting for age, sex, orphan status, importanc e of religion, caregiver support and supervision, school attendance, and alcohol and drug use. Results This analysis included 1,365 participants aged ≥10 years: 712 (52{%}) living in institutional environments and 653 (48{%}) in family-based care. Participants in institutional care were significantly less likely to report engaging in transactional sex (adjusted odds ratio,.46; 95{%} confidence interval,.3–.72) or to have experienced forced sex (adjusted odds ratio,.57; 95{%} confidence interval,.38–.88) when controlling for age, sex, and orphan status. These associations remained when adjusting for additional variables. Conclusions Orphaned adolescents living in family-based care in Uasin Gishu, Kenya, may be at increased risk of transactional sex and sexual violence compared to those in institutional care. Institutional care may reduce vulnerabilities through the provision of basic material needs and adequate standards of living that influence adolescents' sexual risk-taking behaviors. The use of single items to assess outcomes and nonexplicit definition of sex suggest the findings should be interpreted with caution.

Shangani S, Operario D, Genberg B, Kirwa K, Midoun M, Atwoli L, Ayuku D, Galárraga O, Braitstein P. {Unconditional government cash transfers in support of orphaned and vulnerable adolescents in western Kenya: Is there an association with psychological wellbeing?}. PLoS ONE. 2017;12.Abstract

© 2017 Shangani et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background Orphaned and vulnerable adolescents (OVA) in sub-Saharan Africa are at greater risk for adverse psychological outcomes compared with their non-OVA counterparts. Social interventions that provide cash transfers (CTs) have been shown to improve health outcomes among young people, but little is known about their impact on the psychological wellbeing of OVA. Objective Among OVA in western Kenya, we assessed the association between living in a household that received monthly unconditional government CTs and psychological wellbeing. Methods We examined the likelihood of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and positive future outlook among 655 OVA aged between 10 and 18 years who lived in 300 randomly selected households in western Kenya that either received or did not receive unconditional monthly CTs. Results The mean age was 14.0 (SD 2.4) years and 329 (50.2{%}) of the participants were female while 190 (29.0{%}) were double orphans whose biological parents were both deceased. After adjusting for socio-demographic, caregiver, and household characteristics and accounting for potential effects of participant clustering by sub-location of residence, OVA living in CT households were more likely to have a positive future outlook (odds ratio [OR] 1.47, 95{%} confidence interval [CI] 1.08, 1.99), less likely to be anxious (OR 0.57, 95{%} CI 0.42, 0.78), and less likely to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress (OR 0.50, 95{%} CI 0.29, 0.89). We did not find statistically significant differences in odds of depression by CT group. Conclusion OVA in CT households reported better psychological wellbeing compared to those in households not receiving CTs. CT interventions may be effective for improving psychological wellbeing among vulnerable adolescents in socioeconomically deprived households.

Lukoye Atwoli

Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Summary

Recent Publications

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