TITLE:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Defence and Security Forces in Northern Benin (2023)
AUTHORS:
Ireti Nethania Elie Ataigba, Guy Gérard Aza Gnandji, David Sinet Koivogui, Dalmace Fauste Adjaho, Eurydice Elvire Djossou, Anselme Djidonou, Francis Tognon Tchegnonsi, Prosper Gandaho, Josiane Ezin Houngbe
KEYWORDS:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Forces, Defence, Security, Benin, 2023
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.14 No.2,
February
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) is defined as “actual exposure to death or the threat of death, serious
injury or sexual violence”, either directly or indirectly, resulting in a
symptomatic procession of repetition, avoidance, neurovegetative hyperactivity
and individualized symptoms, with or without
negative cognitive and mood changes. It therefore goes without saying
that the defence and security forces constitute a high-risk population in need of attention. Objective: To study
post-traumatic stress disorder in defence
and security forces in the city of Parakou in 2023. Methods: Descriptive
cross-sectional study conducted from December 2022 to July 2023. The study
population consisted of active military,
republican police and firefighters in the city of Parakou in 2023.
Non-proportional stratified sampling was used, given the inaccessibility of the source population size for national security reasons. Post-traumatic stress disorder was
assessed using the “post-traumatic stress
disorder checklist-5 (PCLS-5) scale. Results: A total of 305 subjects participated in the survey. Males dominated 90.2%.
The most represented corps was the Republican
Police (41.6%), most of whom were non-commissioned officers
(46.6%). The majority count between 11 and 20 years of service (48.9%), with 2 to 5 missions completed (67.5%). The
calculated prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 11.8%, based on the post-traumatic stress disorder
checklist-5 (PCL-5). Of the 36 respondents with post-traumatic stress disorder,
20 (55.6%) had experienced an armed attack, 25 (69.4%) had witnessed a violent
death, 18 (50.0%) had witnessed the agony of a colleague, 15 (41.7%) had been
exposed to a fire or explosion, while 26 (72.2%) had been traumatized by
physical and/or verbal aggression. 5 (13.9%) had consulted a specialist psychiatrist, while 6 (16.7%) were on
medication and 26 (72.2%) used sport as a means of maintaining physical
and mental health. Respectively 22 (61.1%)
and 21 (58.3%) had definite symptoms of anxiety and depression. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant
association between post-traumatic stress disorder and the following
variables: total number of children ≤ 2 (p = 0.015), comorbidities such as arterial
hypertension (p = 0.007), history of hepatitis
(p = 0.017), work accidents (p = 0.016), alcohol dependence (p = 0.004),
domestic violence (p = 0.004), psychological violence (p = 0.017) and anxiety disorders (p Conclusion: Defence and security personnel can also be prey to post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), which
needs to be systematically taken into account when they are
subjected to trauma in the course of their duties. Mental health should
be an integral part of the periodic medical
check-up objectives for defence and security forces
throughout the country.