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.