P-979 - Psychiatric morbidity among internally displaced persons (IDPs) of sindh

Abstract

Introduction: Devastating floods from July to September 2010 broke all previous records of havoc caused by natural disasters in Pakistan. Flood caused 20 million people to loose their homes, profession and community making them internally displaced. Devastating consequences are still continuous within the country. Objectives: To find out the prevalence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among flood affected Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Sind. Aims: To find out psychiatric morbidity in IDPs so that proper attention should be paid to rehabilitation of these effectees and psychiatric support should be provided specially to those who are more affected by psychological trauma. Methods: Cross sectional study conducted in Razzakabad, an area located in periphery of Karachi. PTSD prevalence was measured using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and levels of anxiety and depression were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25. SPSS 17 was used for data entry and analysis. Results: Total 303 subjects were included in this study out of which 55% were females.The total Scores on Hopkins symptoms checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and on Harvard trauma Questionnaire were significantly high and psychiatric morbidity was present in 42% of the population. The presence of psychological distress was more in females (65.6%) (p= .05).32% of the subjects had symptoms of PTSD.44% of the population was screened positive for anxiety and depression symptoms were present in 39% of the population. Conclusions: Besides being displaced from their residence exposure to trauma come out to be the important causative factor in creating psychological disturbance among IDPs.

Climate change, climate-related disasters and mental disorder in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review

“…The remaining studies did not directly explore the association of interest, solely reporting mental disorder prevalence rates among those exposed to a climate change or climate disaster event. Rahman et al 51 and Solangi et al 52 both studied flood-related displacement, a broader climate change-related exposure. The former study reported a 9% prevalence of PTSD and 44% prevalence of depression, 51 while the latter reported a 32% prevalence of PTSD and 39% prevalence of depression.…”

“…The former study reported a 9% prevalence of PTSD and 44% prevalence of depression, 51 while the latter reported a 32% prevalence of PTSD and 39% prevalence of depression. 52 …”

“…Twenty-three studies were conducted in South Asia, with 14 in India, [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] 7 in Pakistan [46][47][48][49][50][51][52] and 2 in Bangladesh. 53 54 Many of these studies focused on specific populations, including women, 47 54 farmers, 36 primary care attendees 43 and postdisaster relief camp attendees.…”