Seven years of war in Syria: The relation between oral health and PTSD among children

Alhaffar, Mervat; Mustafa, Khattab; Sabbagh, Samira; Yabrode, Kamal; Shebib, Ghalia; Kouchaji, Chaza

doi:10.4103/ijohr.ijohr_8_18

Cited by 14 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…PTSD prevalence in our study was over than half of children with female predominance which was somewhat less than another study conducted on Syrian population adults which used DSM-IV questionnaire similar to our study [4]. Another study in Damascus schools which included 811 children found that the prevalence can be up to 90% with variable degrees and this study also used a DSM-IV bases questionnaire [12]. Another study which used CRIES-8, similarly to our study, included 492 children aging between 8 and 15 years from schools in Damascus and Latakia with 35.1% having PTSD, 32% having depression, and 29.5% having anxiety [11].…”

Section: Ptsdcontrasting

confidence: 59%

“…While there has been some attention to rates of PTSD in Syria [4], few studies have been concerned with the status of children [11][12][13]. These studies found that higher social support was correlated with a lower probability of having PTSD [4,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However these existing studies suffer from considerable limitations. The Syrian adult population samples were limited to the people who were online and saw the survey [4]; the one school study was mostly focused on oral health and while included a measure of PTSD not include any other mental health components and [12] or other school study involved the city of Damascus and Latakia which were much less affected than other cities from war and contained many less displaced people with the studied population in Damascus being limited to 247 participants from 5 schools with 67.9% not responding to war-related questions. Furthermore, they included age group of (8-15) years with students in elementary schools comprising the largest proportion while not mentioning schools locations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anger and Mental health of school students in Syria after ten years of conflict: a large scale school-based study

Kakaje

Zohbi

Alyousbashi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The Syrian crisis has entered its tenth year with incessant conflicts in many locations across Syria. Much of the population have been impacted including children who suffer the direct and indirect war effects of war. To date there has been no large scale study examining the mental health and academic impacts of the war of children in Syria. This large-scale cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the psychological profile of school students in Damascus Syria examining PTSD, anger and general mental health and examine their relationships with work, smoking and academic performance. The study included 1369 students from seven different schools. Surveys included assessment of mental and physical well-being using a measure of health related quality of life (SF8), Posttraumatic stress disorder (CRIES-13), problematic anger (DAR5) smoking, working habits, social support and academic grades. The study found that more than half of the children suffered from PTSD (53%), problematic anger (62%) with this being associated with poorer SF-8 (quality of life) scores in both mental and physical domains and more time watching TV and Internet. Around 46% declared fair or worse general health and 61% having moderate or severe mental health. War variables had an impact on PTSD, anger, and SF-8, but not an impact on grades. Worse HRQL was associated with war variables and smoking. Social support was negatively correlated with SF-8, PTSD, DAR-5 anger and declarations of close friends being the main source of support. This is the largest study of children is Syria to date that reports on the psychological ramification of war. The study demonstrates the severe impact on children across both mental health and physical health. Although direct war effect could not be observed, the high burden of PTSD and anger distress is a strong reflection of the chronic mental trauma. School students have had to work and face many hurdles in a young age which has left them severely impacted.

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Section: Ptsdcontrasting

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anger and Mental health of school students in Syria after ten years of conflict: a large scale school-based study

Kakaje

Zohbi

Alyousbashi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Similarly, 31.8% of refugees in Sweden, and 29.5% of Syrian students had anxiety (28,29). Other studies In Syria found that dental and genitival health deteriorated more in patients with PTSD and mental disorders (44)(45)(46). Another study found around 50% of the population had allergic rhinitis which could be from the indirect or direct effects of war or the unique environment (47).…”

Section: Outcomes Of the Psychological Burdenmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mental disorder and PTSD in Syria during wartime: a nationwide crisis

Kakaje

Zohbi

Aldeen

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Syria has experienced war since 2011, leaving over 80% under the poverty line and millions being displaced. War and its retaliations have significantly impacted the mental health of Syrians. This study evaluates the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the severity of the mental distress caused by war and other factors such as low social support. This study also evaluates other variables and compare the findings with multiple studies of Syria and refugees. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included people who lived in Syria from different provinces. Online surveys on multiple online groups included Kessler 10 (K10) questionnaire, the Screen for Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms (SPTSS) tool, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and demographic and war-related questionnaires. Results: Our study included 1951 participants, of which, 527 (27.0%) were males and 1538 (78.8%) aged (19-25) years. Among participants, 44% had severe mental disorder, 27% had both severe mental disorder and full PTSD symptoms, 36.9% had full PTSD symptoms, and only 10.8% had neither positive PTSD symptoms nor mental disorder on the K10 scale. Around 23% had low overall support. Half of the responders were internally displaced, and 27.6% were forced to change place of living three times or more due to war. Around 86.6% of the responders believed that the crisis was the main reason for their mental distress. Those with high SPTSS and K10 scores were found to take more days off from work or school due to negative feelings and having somatic symptoms. Moreover, the number of times changing places of living due to war, educational level, and being distressed by war noise were the most important factors for more sever PTSD and mental distress. No differences in PTSD and mental disorder prevalence was noted between provinces or type of job. A strong correlation (r=0.623) was found between SPTSS and K10 scores. Conclusion: The conflict in Syria has left the population at a great risk for mental distress which was more severe compared to Syrian refugees elsewhere. Many measures with an emphasis on mental health are needed to aid the people against a long-term avoidable suffering.

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“…Other research indicates that 50% of refugee children have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, abductees and tens of thousands of combatants on all sides suffer from mental illness, and women and girls are particularly vulnerable to violations such as domestic violence, sexual violence, child marriage and sexual exploitation. 12 Higher still were the results of Mohammed Bahaa Aldin Alhaffar et al's study on oral health and the prevalence of severe PTSD among children, which showed that 91.5% of children in the city of Damascus suffered from PTSD, 13 the highest rates being concentrated in eastern and south-eastern areas of Damascus, namely Dwelah, Nahr Aisha, Tabbaleh and Jaramana.…”

Section: Psychological Effects Of the Crisis On Syriansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health during the Syrian crisis: How Syrians are dealing with the psychological effects

Hedar¹

2017

Int. rev. Red Cross

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Looking at the physical damage caused by the Syrian war, one can begin to imagine the scale of the psychological toll that eight years of crisis have taken on the Syrian people. In a country where mental health was still considered an emerging field before the war, Syrians are working to address and manage the mental health and psychological effects of war. Despite this disastrous situation, there appears to have been significant progress in the field of mental health during the crisis. This article explores the mental health situation in Syria prior to 2011, the effects of the crisis on Syrians, and how these have been managed in recent years. It concludes by citing some examples of progress that have been made in mental health care in Syria and discussing some of the challenges that remain to be addressed.

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Seven years of war in Syria: The relation between oral health and PTSD among children

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anger and Mental health of school students in Syria after ten years of conflict: a large scale school-based study

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anger and Mental health of school students in Syria after ten years of conflict: a large scale school-based study

Mental disorder and PTSD in Syria during wartime: a nationwide crisis

Mental health during the Syrian crisis: How Syrians are dealing with the psychological effects

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