title: Exposure to violence and PTSD symptoms among Somali women.
abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, exposure to traumatic stressors, and health care utilization were examined in 84 women attending a primary health care clinic in Mogadishu, Somalia. The Somalia-Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale was used in this active warzone to measure symptoms. Nearly all women reported high levels of confrontations with violence; half described being exposed to a potentially traumatizing event. Nearly one third had significant PTSD symptoms. Compared to those who did not, women who reported exposure to a traumatic stressor reported more confrontations with violence (7.1 vs. 3.3; p < . 001), health complaints (3.8 vs. 2.9; p = .03), and nearly 3 times as much (p = .03) health service utilization. A potentially traumatizing event was found to be a simplified proxy for assessing mental health distress in women attending a primary health care facility in highly insecure, unpredictable, resource-limited settings.
authors.affiliation: Médecins sans Frontières, Doctors without Borders, 1001 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. kaz.de.jong@amsterdam.msf.org
authors.forename: Kaz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van der Kam
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Swarthout
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Clair
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Rolf J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kleber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012998:Somalia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult