Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Associated Factors Among Internally Displaced People in South Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Displaced people experience different traumatic events. This can have serious and long-lasting consequences in terms of physical and mental health outcome. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most frequent mental disorder following traumatic exposure. In 2018 Ethiopia saw the highest number of internal displacement, despite this, less attention has been given to mental health among internally displaced people in the country. This study aims to determine the estimated prevalence and associated factors of PTSD among internally displaced people in the Gede'o zone, south Ethiopia. Participants and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted between 1 and 30, May 2019 among 636 participants, who were selected using a simple random sampling technique. PTSD was measured by the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). The association between outcome and independent variables was identified by bi-variable and multivariate logistic regression. Finally, variables with P-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant at 95% CI. Results: A total of 625 participants were interviewed with a response rate of 98.3%. The estimated prevalence of PTSD was 58.4% with 95% CI 55 to 61.9. In the multivariate logistic regression, being female (AOR=2.4, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.4), depression (AOR=2.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.9), displaced more than once (AOR=3.7, 95% CI 2.4 to 5.8), destruction of personal property (AOR=1.6, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.44), witness the murder of family (AOR=2, 95% CI 1.2, 3.9), and cumulative trauma (AOR=4, 95% CI 1.7 to 9.6) were significantly associated factors. Conclusion: In the current study, the estimated prevalence of PTSD was high. Ministry of health should plan routine screening and management of PTSD, depression and linking with available mental health service is recommended.