TITLE:
Mental Health Consequences among Sudanese Due to the Armed Conflicts and Civil Unrest of 2023: One Year Later
AUTHORS:
Sahar Moawia Balla Elnour, Nahla Yousif Osman Mohammed Saeed, Awadia Babiker Mohammed Osman, Abeer Alawad Hassan, Eman Mohamed Nour Hamad Alneel Mustafa, Rowa Abdelmonem Sidig Hamato, Malaz Mohamed Khair Alsafi Mohamed, Amna Alnaim Mohamed Ahmed Osman, Awab Abdelbagi Mustafa Ahmed, Jalal Abdelrasool Hassan Eltaib
KEYWORDS:
Sudan, War, Conflict, Mental, Health
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.12 No.4,
April
8,
2024
ABSTRACT: Aim: To investigate depression, anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia levels among Sudanese citizens after a year has passed since the start of Armed Forces conflict in Sudan. Methods: An online survey was distributed. It is composed of five parts, covering the following areas: 1) sociodemographic data; 2) depression assessment; 3) generalized anxiety disorder assessment; 4) post-traumatic stress disorder assessment; and 5) insomnia assessment. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 27 was used for data analysis; frequency and percentage were used to describe the qualitative variables. Spearman’s correlation analysis and Chi-square test were used for correlation and association analysis; a P-value equal to or less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study included 283 participants, primarily female (76.0%), with a mean age of 35.26 ± 6.96 years. The majority of participants were married (50.5%) and had a university level of education (50.2%). At the start of the war, 70.3% of participants were inside the war zones, and at the time of data collection, 73.5% were outside Sudan. The length of stay in the war zone ranged from 1 to 300 days, with a mean of 48.59 ± 70.284 days. Additionally, 63.3% of participants stated that they did not receive any form of mental health intervention, and the remaining did not provide an answer. There was a high prevalence of moderate-severe depression (50.5%), moderate anxiety (35.3%), PTSD (56.5%), and sub-threshold insomnia (53.4%) among the participants. Correlation analyses revealed associations between demographic factors such as sex, age, marital status, and education and mental health issues. Notably, female participants showed a higher prevalence of PTSD (53.0%) compared to male participants (67.6%). Conclusions: There is a substantial impact of war-related trauma on mental health, revealing a high prevalence of moderate-severe depression, moderate anxiety, PTSD, and sub-threshold insomnia among the participants. This emphasizes the importance of tailored interventions and support systems to address the unique needs of individuals affected by war trauma.