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. 2012 Oct 19:12:175.
doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-12-175.

What are the risk factors for the comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in a war-affected population? A cross-sectional community study in South Sudan

Touraj Ayazi  1 , Lars Lien, Arne H Eide, Majok Malek Ruom, Edvard Hauff
Affiliations

What are the risk factors for the comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in a war-affected population? A cross-sectional community study in South Sudan

Touraj Ayazi et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Limited data exists on the association of war trauma with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-depression in the general population of low-income countries. The present study aimed to evaluate socioeconomic and trauma-related risk factors associated with PTSD, depression, and PTSD-depression comorbidity in the population of Greater Bahr el Ghazal States, South Sudan.

Methods: In this cross-sectional community study (n=1200) we applied the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) and MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) to investigate the prevalence of PTSD, depression, and PTSD-depression comorbidity. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between these disorders, previous trauma exposure, sociodemographic, and socioeconomic factors.

Results: PTSD only was found in 331 (28%) and depression only in 75 (6.4%) of the study population. One hundred and twelve (9.5%) of the participants had PTSD-depression comorbid diagnosis. Exposure to traumatic events and socioeconomic disadvantage were significantly associated with having PTSD or PTSD-depression comorbidity but not with depression. Participants with a comorbid condition were more likely to be socioeconomic disadvantaged, have experienced more traumatic events, and showed higher level of psychological distress than participants with PTSD or depression alone.

Conclusions: In individuals exposed to war trauma, attention should be given to those who may fulfill criteria for a diagnosis of both PTSD and depression.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
South Sudan and the Greater Bahr al Ghazal states.
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