Indicated interventions for undergraduate university students experiencing anxiety and depression in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs): a scoping review protocol

09 Jul 20264 min read0 viewsJournal Feed

GIST (Key Takeaways)

Introduction Depression and anxiety are significantly elevated among undergraduate university students worldwide. Despite this, treatment rates among this population remain low.
To address this gap, there is a need for not only the provision of treatment options but also for relevant scalable prevention interventions. Such programmes have become more common in high-income countries but remain limited in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).
This scoping review will identify and map key components, delivery and assessment methods and reported outcomes of indicated prevention interventions conducted with undergraduate students with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety in LMICs. Methods and analysis A comprehensive search strategy will be developed and used to search the following databases: MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, Africa-Wide, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC and SocINDEX (via EBSCOhost).
Studies will be included if empirical research is presented on an indicated intervention that was delivered to undergraduate students in LMICs. Additionally, studies must report on depression and/or anxiety as outcomes, be published in English, peer-reviewed and available as full-text.

Clinical Editorial

BMJ Open published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 09 Jul 2026.

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