scholarly journals Post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression in conflict-affected populations: an epidemiological model and predictor analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Charlson ◽  
A. Flaxman ◽  
A. J. Ferrari ◽  
T. Vos ◽  
Z. Steel ◽  
...  

BackgroundDespite significant research examining mental health in conflict-affected populations we do not yet have a comprehensive epidemiological model of how mental disorders are distributed, or which factors influence the epidemiology in these populations. We aim to derive prevalence estimates specific for region, age and sex of major depression, and PTSD in the general populations of areas exposed to conflict, whilst controlling for an extensive range of covariates.MethodsA systematic review was conducted to identify epidemiological estimates of depression and PTSD in conflict-affected populations and potential predictors. We analyse data using Bayesian meta-regression techniques.ResultsWe identified 83 studies and a list of 34 potential predictors. The age-standardised pooled prevalence of PTSD was 12.9% (95% UI 6.9–22.9), and major depression 7.6% (95% UI 5.1–10.9) – markedly lower than estimated in previous research but over two-times higher than the mean prevalence estimated by the Global Burden of Disease Study [3.7% (95% UI 3.0–4.5) and 3.5% (95% UI 2.9–4.2) for anxiety disorders and MDD, respectively]. The age-patterns reveal sharp prevalence inclines in the childhood years. A number of ecological variables demonstrated associations with prevalence of both disorders. Symptom scales were shown to significantly overestimate prevalence of both disorders. Finding suggests higher prevalence of both disorders in females.ConclusionThis study provides, for the first time, age-specific estimates of PTSD and depression prevalence adjusted for an extensive range of covariates and is a significant advancement on our current understanding of the epidemiology in conflict-affected populations.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Charlson ◽  
Y. Y. Lee ◽  
S. Diminic ◽  
H. Whiteford

BackgroundEpidemiological models are frequently utilised to ascertain disease prevalence in a population; however, these estimates can have wider practical applications for informing targeted scale-up and optimisation of mental health services. We explore potential applications for a conflict-affected population, Syria.MethodsWe use prevalence estimates of major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in conflict-affected populations as inputs for subsequent estimations. We use Global Burden of Disease (GBD) methodology to estimate years lived with a disability (YLDs) for depression and PTSD in Syrian populations. Human resource (HR) requirements to scale-up recommended packages of care for PTSD and depression in Syria over a 15-year period were modelled using the World Health Organisation mhGAP costing tool. Associated avertable burden was estimated using health benefit analyses.ResultsThe total number of cases of PTSD in Syria was estimated at approximately 2.2 million, and approximately 1.1 million for depression. An age-standardised major depression rate of 13.4 (95% UI 9.8–17.5) YLDs per 1000 Syrian population is estimated compared with the GBD 2010 global age-standardised YLD rate of 9.2 (95% UI 7.0–11.8). HR requirements to support a linear scale-up of services in Syria using the mhGAP costing tool demonstrates a steady increase from 0.3 FTE in at baseline to 7.6 FTE per 100 000 population after scale-up. Linear scale-up over 15 years could see 7–9% of disease burden being averted.ConclusionEpidemiological estimates of mental disorders are key inputs into determining disease burden and guiding optimal mental health service delivery and can be used in target populations such as conflict-affected populations.


Author(s):  
Sebastian Trautmann ◽  
Hans-Ulrich Wittchen

The chapter gives an overview about the epidemiological studies of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in European countries with a focus on data from recent cross-national research initiatives. About two-thirds of the European population have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. Between 1% and 3% of the European population, however, have developed PTSD suffering from symptoms during the past year; this corresponds to about 7.7 million people. The PTSD prevalence varies considerably between European countries, with differences regarding trauma exposure, exposure to war and combat events, cultural factors, and health care utilization. The chapter highlights significant research gaps, the need for more complete and nationally representative data for many European countries, and in-depth examination of reasons for the apparent large prevalence differences.


Author(s):  
Kavita Batra ◽  
Tejinder Pal Singh ◽  
Manoj Sharma ◽  
Ravi Batra ◽  
Nena Schvaneveldt

Previous meta-analyses were conducted during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, which utilized a smaller pool of data. The current meta-analysis aims to provide additional (and updated) evidence related to the psychological impact among healthcare workers. The search strategy was developed by a medical librarian and bibliographical databases, including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for studies examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health of healthcare workers. Articles were screened by three reviewers. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed by I2 statistic. The random-effects model was utilized to obtain the pooled prevalence. A subgroup analysis by region, gender, quality of study, assessment methods, healthcare profession, and exposure was performed. Publication bias was assessed by Funnel plot and Egger linear regression test. Sixty-five studies met the inclusion criteria and the total sample constituted 79,437 participants. The pooled prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, post-traumatic stress syndrome, insomnia, psychological distress, and burnout was 34.4%, 31.8%, 40.3%, 11.4%, 27.8%, 46.1%, and 37.4% respectively. The subgroup analysis indicated higher anxiety and depression prevalence among females, nurses, and frontline responders than males, doctors, and second-line healthcare workers. This study highlights the need for designing a targeted intervention to improve resilience and foster post-traumatic growth among frontline responders.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Firenze ◽  
Nicola Aleo ◽  
Clara Ferrara ◽  
Marianna Maranto ◽  
Caterina La Cascia ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Italy is the main recipient of asylum seekers in the European region, and Sicily is their first point of arrival. This geographical position creates a large job for Health Authorities to identify and deal with the health of immigrants. This study evaluates the prevalence of disease among asylum seekers, assessing which are associated factors. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to analyse demographic and clinical data in an Acceptance Centres for Asylum Seekers from February 2012 to May 2013. All variables that were found to be significant on unvariable analysis for the most frequent pathologies were included in a multivariable logistic regression model. Results Post-traumatic stress disorders with 17.4% and major depression with 7.3% were the most frequent diseases. The factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorders among asylum seekers were: major depression diagnosis (OR=2.91, p=0.004), Pakistan as a country of origin (OR=3.88, p <0.001), the largest number of medical visits (OR=1.02, p=0.033) and refugee status (OR=1.97, p=0.036). The variables linked with the diagnosis of major depression from the multivariable analysis were: suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders (OR=3.83, p <0.001), Pakistan as a country of origin (OR=3.45, p=0.004) and the highest number of visits to psychologist (OR=1.15, p <0.001). Conclusions The mental wellbeing of asylum seekers needs special attention, and interventions should be done to prevent the consolidation of psychiatric morbidity. A short psychological screening after the arrival might prove helpful here. Moreover, carefully designed longitudinal studies should be carried out when political recommendations try to change the organization of psychological and healthcare services.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Gabriel ◽  
Laura Ferrando ◽  
Enrique Sainz Cortón ◽  
Carlos Mingote ◽  
Eduardo García-Camba ◽  
...  

AbstractBackground and aimTo assess the prevalence and correlates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression and anxiety disorders other than PTSD, among three samples with different level of exposure to the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid.MethodWe sampled three groups of persons—those injured in the attacks, the residents of Alcala de Henares, and police officers involved with the rescue effort—with different exposure to the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks, using random sampling from comprehensive censuses of all three groups. In person interviews were conducted with all three groups between 5 and 12 weeks after March 11, 2004. Questionnaire included assessment of socio-demographic characteristics, of PTSD using the Davidson trauma scale, and of a range of psychiatric illnesses using the mini international neuropsychiatric interview (MINI).ResultsThe overall sample included 127 persons injured in the attack, 485 residents of Alcalá de Henares, and 153 policemen involved in rescue. Of all three groups 57.5%, 25.9% and 3.9% of persons, respectively, reported symptoms consistent with any assessed psychiatric disorder. The use of psychoactive medication before March 11, 2004 was consistently the main predictor of PTSD and major depression among those injured and of major depression and anxiety disorders others than PTSD among residents of Alcala.ConclusionsThere was a substantial burden of psychological consequences of the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks two months after the event. Persons with prior mental illness are at higher risk of post-event psychopathology, across groups of exposure.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 1697-1702 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Breslau ◽  
L. Schultz

BackgroundNeuroticism has been consistently correlated with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) response to traumatic events. Interpretation of these findings is limited by the retrospective nature of these findings: neuroticism was measured after the trauma had occurred. The prospective association of neuroticism with PTSD has not been examined (the relationship of neuroticism with PTSD symptoms was examined in a few prospective studies). We evaluate prospectively the relationship of neuroticism, measured at baseline, with the cumulative occurrence of PTSD during the subsequent 10 years, using data from a longitudinal epidemiological study of young adults.MethodA sample of 1007 young adults randomly selected from the membership of a large health maintenance organization in southeast Michigan was assessed at baseline and followed up at 3, 5 and 10 years later. We conducted a series of multinomial logistic regressions to estimate the relative risk (RR) of exposure to trauma and PTSD by neuroticism at baseline, adjusting for history of major depression (n = 990).ResultsDuring the 10-year follow-up, 50.2% of the sample experienced traumatic events and 5.2% developed PTSD. Neuroticism score at baseline increased significantly the RR of PTSD response to trauma. Additional analysis revealed that, among persons with history of major depression at baseline, RR for PTSD associated with neuroticism was equal to the null value of 1, but was increased significantly among those with no history of major depression.ConclusionsThe results confirm the role of neuroticism as diathesis in the PTSD response to traumatic experiences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. e006303
Author(s):  
Thole H Hoppen ◽  
Stefan Priebe ◽  
Inja Vetter ◽  
Nexhmedin Morina

ObjectiveExtensive research has demonstrated high prevalences of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MD) in war-surviving populations. However, absolute estimates are lacking, which may additionally inform policy making, research and healthcare. We aimed at estimating the absolute global prevalence and disease burden of adult survivors of recent wars (1989–2019) affected by PTSD and/or MD.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search and meta-analysis of interview-based epidemiological surveys assessing the prevalence of PTSD and/or MD in representative samples from countries with a recent war history (1989–2019). Drawing on the war definition and geo-referenced data of the Uppsala Conflict Database Programme and population estimates of the United Nations for 2019, we extrapolated the meta-analytic results to absolute global numbers of affected people. Drawing on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) data of the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019, we further calculated the PTSD-associated and MD-associated DALYs.ResultsTwenty-two surveys (N=15 420) for PTSD, 13 surveys for MD (N=9836) and six surveys on the comorbidity of PTSD and MD (N=1131) were included. Random effects meta-analyses yielded point prevalences of 26.51% for PTSD and 23.31% for MD. Of those affected by PTSD, 55.26% presented with comorbid MD. Prevalence rates were not significantly associated with war intensity and length, time since war, response rate or survey quality. The extrapolation yielded 316 million adult war-survivors globally who suffered from PTSD and/or MD in 2019. War-survivors were almost exclusively living in low/middle-income countries (LMICs) and carried a burden of 3 105 387 and 4 083 950 DALYs associated with PTSD and MD, respectively.ConclusionsSince LMICs lack sufficient funding and qualified professionals to provide evidence-based psychological treatments for such large numbers of affected people, alternative and scalable strategies using existing resources in primary care and communities are required. Research is required to assist upscaling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Qiu ◽  
Yilu Li ◽  
Ling Li ◽  
Jun He ◽  
Feiyun Ouyang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As one of the most widely researched consequence of traumatic events, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak varies greatly across studies. This review aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. Methods Systematic searches of databases were conducted for literature published on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, PsycArticle, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure until October 14, 2020. Statistical analyses were performed using R software (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020180309). Results A total of 106,713 people exposed to the trauma resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak were identified in the 76 articles, of which 33,810 were reported with post-traumatic stress symptoms. The pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak was 28.34%, with a 95% confidence interval of 23.03-34.32%. Subgroup analysis indicated that older age, male and bigger sample size were associated with higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. After controlling for other factors, the results of meta-regression showed that the influence of gender and sample size on prevalence is no longer significant. Conclusions Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were very common among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. Further research is needed to explore more possible risk factors for post-traumatic stress symptoms and identify effective strategies for preventing PTSD-related symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak.


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