Posttraumatic stress disorder among internally displaced victims of Boko Haram terrorism in north-eastern Nigeria

Background: A large number of youth are often directly involved in armed-conflict, and therefore are at greater risk of developing a wide range of mental disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However little is known about the prevalence of PTSD among youth who constitute a large work force.Objective: This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder among Internally Displaced youth exposed to Boko Haram terrorism in North-Eastern Nigeria. It also assessed the socio-demographic factors associated with PTSD in this population.Method: A cross-sectional study that employed a consecutive sampling technique to select eligible subjects undergoing a Citizenship and leadership training at Citizenship and Leadership training institute Jos, Plateau State. The posttraumatic stress disorder module of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to assess for current symptoms of PTSD.Results: The results show that more than two-third of the respondents were unemployed youth with secondary level of education and had low or no stable income. More than 63% of the respondents were diagnosed with PTSD. Educational status (p=0.002), marital status (p=0.001) and income before displacement (p=0.010) were the significant factors associated with PTSD.Conclusions: The results point to the importance of screening and treatment for traumatic armed conflict victims, with particular attention to youth who had low education and low income levels as well as being never married or widowed.Keywords: PTSD, sociodemographic factors, Bokoharam terrorism, North Eastern Nigeri

Functional disability as a measure of severity in depressive disorders

Background: Good level of functioning is an asset that individuals have used to create wealth and perform social activities. Depressive disorders, no matter how mild, have a negative toll on how individuals perform or enjoy such social or economic endowments. The study was aimed at determining the relationship between severity of depression and global functioning.Methods: The cross-sectional study included 100 depressed adult outpatients. A variety of measures including the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to diagnose depression while the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale were used to rate the severity of depression and measure the degree of functioning respectively.Results: Forty-two percent of the study participants were still depressed. Out of this number, 47.6% were in remission, 40.5% had mild symptoms while 7.1% and 4.8% had moderate and severe depressive symptoms respectively. Majority (93.1%) of those who had achieved full remission exhibited superior functioning compared to those who were still experiencing one symptom or the other. A statistically significant association (p<0.001) was found between severity of depression and level of functioning.Conclusion: Severe depression is associated with poor functioning among patients. Functional improvement should therefore be one of the targets of treatment by physicians.Key words: Functioning; Severity; Depressive disorder