title: Road traffic accidents and posttraumatic stress disorder in an orthopedic setting in South-Eastern Nigeria: a controlled study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychiatric liaison services are rare in trauma units of various hospitals in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries. The occurrence of road traffic accidents (RTAs) resulting from low standard of road construction and inadequate maintenance have been on the increase in Nigeria. While the physical consequences of such RTAs are obvious, the psychological consequences are often not apparent. This study assessed the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among victims of RTAs and compared same with controls drawn from a population who have not experienced RTAs. It also assessed the associated socio-demographic variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study population consisted of one hundred and fifty RTA victims and two different control groups drawn from the population consisting of staffs of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria and that of National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria, 150 people in each control group were matched for age and sex with the RTA victims and they were interviewed with PTSD module of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and their socio-demographic variables obtained with socio-demographic questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of PTSD among RTA victims and the two control groups were 26.7%, 8.0% and 8.7% respectively. The difference in prevalence was statistically significant with RTA victims more likely to experience PTSD compared to the two control groups (X² = 27.23, df = 2, p = 0.001). Gender influenced the prevalence of PTSD among victims of RTAs and the controls, with females more likely to experience PTSD when compared to the males. Among victims of RTAs, being gainfully employed prior to the accidents increased the likelihood of developing PTSD and this was statistically significant (X² = 20.09, df = 1, p = 0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is urgent need to pay more attention to developing consultation-liaison psychiatry services in trauma units of Nigerian hospitals, including orthopedic hospitals located in different geographical zones of the country.
authors.affiliation: General Adult Psychiatry Unit, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, New Haven, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria. itekeobi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Obiora
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Iteke
authors.forename: Muideen O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Bakare
authors.forename: Ahamefule O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Agomoh
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uwakwe
authors.forename: Jojo U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Onwukwe
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D055815:Young Adult