Profiles of referrals to a psychiatric service: a descriptive study of survivors of the Nairobi US Embassy terrorist bomb blast.
OBJECTIVE
To document the socio-demographic characteristics and psychiatric profiles of the survivors of the Nairobi United States Embassy terrorist bomb blast referred to a psychiatric and psychotherapy (counselling) service.


METHODS
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Clinical interviews and structured questionnaires for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stress were administered. Survivors of the bomb blast referred to a psychiatric and psychotherapy service one year or more after the bombing were included in the study. These survivors had been treated using psychopharmacotherapy and individualised (not group) therapy/counselling.


RESULTS
Eighty-three consecutive referrals to a psychiatric service participated in this study. There were more males and the sample was generally well educated. The referrals made contact with the referring agency for a number of reasons including seeking psychological, financial and medical assistance. All the patients reported varying degrees of psychiatric symptoms and functional impairment on various aspects of social occupational functioning. High scores for PTSD and other related stress were recorded one or more years after the bombing.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the survivors indicated that initial counselling following the blast had helped them, they still scored high on PTSD suggesting that clinically, the initial counselling had little, if any impact on the development of PTSD. There is need for a holistic approach to the management of psychotrauma in individuals.
Ndetei
D M
DM
University of Africa and Africa Mental Health Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya. dmndetei@uonbi.ac.ke
Omar
A
A
Mutiso
V N
VN
Ongecha
F A
FA
Kokonya
D A
DA
D000328:Adult; D054042:Bombs; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D023481:Terrorism; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult