Conference Abstract | Volume 9, Abstract 0003 (ConfProc7) | Published: 24 Mar 2026
Mavis Cecilia Coffie1,2,&, Christopher Tamal3, Ebenezer Asiamah4, Stanley Fifi Addaquay4, Kennedy Tette Brightson5, Jonathan Avunyitor1,5, John Baffoe1, Delia Bandoh1, Basil Kaburi1, Charles Noora Lwanga1, Donne Ameme1,6, Samuel Sackey1, Ernest Kenu1
1Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, 2Pantang Nurses Training College, 3World Health Organization, Ghana Country Office, Accra, Ghana, 4Ghana Health Service, Shai Osudoku Health Directorate, 5Ghana Health Service, Shai Osudoku District Hospital, 6Africa Field Epidemiology Network, Country Office, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Mavis Cecilia Coffie; Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana, Email: macoffie247@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7736-1052
Received: 11 Jul 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 24 Mar 2026
Domain: Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology
This is part of the Proceedings of the 8th Ghana FELTP Scientific Conference and FELTP Competency Graduation, Accra, Ghana, 10 – 11 December, 2025
Keywords: Alcohol use disorders, surveillance evaluation, mental health, Ghana, CDC guidelines
©Mavis Cecilia Coffie et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Mavis Cecilia Coffie et al. Evaluation of surveillance system on mental disorders due to alcohol use, Shai Osudoku District, Ghana, 2025. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;9(ConfProc7):0003. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0003
Alcohol use causes about 3 million deaths yearly and over 5% of the global disease burden. In Ghana, up to 17% of men engage in hazardous drinking, worsening mental health amid weak surveillance systems. We evaluated mental disorders due to the alcohol use surveillance system in Shai-Osudoku District from 2020 to 2024 to assess the system’s objectives, attributes, and usefulness for decision-making.
A descriptive evaluation adopted the updated CDC guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance. Semi-structured interview, observation, records reviewed of hospital registers, and the DHIMS2 were conducted to measure the performance of the system objectives, attributes (simplicity, flexibility, acceptability, representativeness, timeliness, completeness, data quality, sensitivity, and stability), and usefulness. They were scored on a scale of 1-3 (<60% = 1 Weak; 60-79% = 2 Fair; ≥80% = 3 Good).
A total of 23 cases of alcohol-related mental disorders were reported over five years, with a peak of nine cases in 2021. Males constituted 87% of the reported cases, and the 35–49-year age group recorded the highest prevalence (12 per 100,000 population). In 2024, six of nine facilities achieved (100%) both timeliness and completeness in reporting. All facilities consistently submitted mental health data. The surveillance system demonstrated high performance across key attributes: flexibility (2.5/3; 83.3%), reflecting easy integration with other systems; acceptability (2.7/3; 90%); and simplicity (2.3/3; 76.7%), indicating that most respondents found the case definitions and reporting tools easy to use. Data accuracy was rated high (2.3/3; 76.7%). Health staff held community durbars and education in high-case areas.
The surveillance system partially meets its objectives, showing moderate sensitivity, stability, and representativeness. Data are used for health education and media engagement. The Ministry of Health and Mental Health Authority should develop guidelines and train health workers to improve case detection.
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