Testimony method to ameliorate post-traumatic stress symptoms. Community-based intervention study with Mozambican civil war survivors

Abstract

Background: The effectiveness of the testimony method has not been established in rural communities with survivors of prolonged civil war.

Aims: To examine the effectiveness and feasibility of a testimony method to ameliorate post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Method: Participants (n=206) belonged to former war zones in Mozambique. They were divided into a case (n=137) and a non-case group (n=69). The case group was randomly divided into an intervention (n=66) and a control group (n=71). Symptoms were measured during baseline assessment, post-intervention and at an 11-month follow-up.

Results: Post-intervention measurements demonstrated significant symptom reduction in both the intervention and the control group. No significant differences were found between the intervention and the control group. Follow-up measurements showed sustained lower levels of symptoms in both groups, and some indications of a positive intervention effect in women.

Conclusions: A remarkable drop in symptoms could not be linked directly to the intervention. Feasibility of the intervention was good, but controlling the intervention in a small rural community appeared to be a difficult task to accomplish.