Abstract
BackgroundEbola Virus Disease (EVD) is a deadly and feared infectious disease, which can be responsible of debilitating physical and psychological sequelae in survivors including depression and anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, there are scarce data on survivor sequelae in Democratic Republic of the Congo. So this study assessed PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms among EVD survivors enrolled in the follow-up program of the psychosocial care team of Beni town’s general hospital.MethodsA cross-sectional study used consecutive sampling to recruit 144 Ebola virus disease survivors who came for follow up from October 23 to November 13; 2019. Basic socio-demographic data, presence of headache and short-term memory function were assessed. The Post-traumatic Checklist Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used to assess psychological burden among participants. Descriptive statistics were used to summarized data and Pearson’s or likelihood chi-square were used to test association between psychiatric disorders and associated factors.ResultsThe prevalence of PTSD, depression and anxiety was 24.3, 24.3 and 33.3% respectively. Being male (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.95, p = 0.049), suffering from persistent headache (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.12, 6.14, p = 0.014), losing a loved one because of EVD (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.11, 6.15, p = 0. 015) and being young − 18-24 years - (OR: 0. 261, 95% CI: 0. 08, 0.82, p = 0,026) were statistically associated with PTSD diagnosis. Having short-term memory impairment and suffering from persistent headache were statistically associated with depression and anxiety diagnoses (OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.03, 5.82, p = 0.026); (OR = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.04, 4.85, p = 0.025); (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.12, 6.14, p = 0.014); (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.06, 5.01, p = 0.020).ConclusionThe prevalence of PTSD, depression and anxiety is high among EVD survivors. Development of specialized psychiatric services to sustain psychiatric and psychological health amongst survivors in the cultural context of the Eastern part of the DRC should be considered by the teams fighting against EVD in the DRC.
Highlights
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a deadly and feared infectious disease, which can be responsible of debilitating physical and psychological sequelae in survivors including depression and anxiety disorders
Most survivors had a low level of education (40.3% had never been to school, 37.5% had only primary level education)
Clinical findings We noted that symptoms consistent with Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety were found among survivors of EVDs in 24.3, 24.3 and 33.3% respectively (Fig. 1; Flowchart)
Summary
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a deadly and feared infectious disease, which can be responsible of debilitating physical and psychological sequelae in survivors including depression and anxiety disorders. It was challenging to manage this outbreak as it took place in an area where long-lasting conflict among countless armed groups is ongoing (https://www.who.int/news-room/ detail/25-06-2020-10th-ebola-outbreak-in-thedemocratic-republic-of-the-congo-declared-overvigilance-against-flare-ups-and-support-for-survivorsmust-continue) [3, 4]. This unstable situation affects the mental health of those living in these provinces, [5] which lack proper mental health services [6, 7]. It sought to assess the relationship between these psychiatric disorders and other comorbidities among EVD survivors
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