title: Disability associated with exposure to traumatic events: results from a cross-sectional community survey in South Sudan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a general lack of knowledge regarding disability and especially factors that are associated with disability in low-income countries. We aimed to study the overall and gender-specific prevalence of disability, and the association between exposure to traumatic events and disability in a post-conflict setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional community based study of four Greater Bahr el Ghazal States, South Sudan (n = 1200). The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) was applied to investigate exposure to trauma events. Disability was measured using the Washington Group Short Measurement Set on Disability, which is an activity-based scale derived from the WHO's International Classification of Disability, Functioning and Health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The estimated prevalence of disability (with severe difficulty) was 3.6% and 13.4% for disability with moderate difficulties. No gender differences were found in disability prevalence. Almost all participants reported exposure to at least one war-related traumatic event. The result of a hierarchical regression analysis showed that, for both men and women, exposure to traumatic events, older age and living in a polygamous marriage increased the likelihood of having a disability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding of association between traumatic experience and disability underlines the precariousness of the human rights situation for individuals with disability in low-income countries. It also has possible implications for the construction of disability services and for the provision of health services to individuals exposed to traumatic events.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Blindern, PO box 1171, Oslo 0318, Norway. Touraj.Ayazi@medisin.uio.no
authors.forename: Touraj
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ayazi
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: Arne Henning
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Eide
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: Rita Amok
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Albino
authors.forename: Edvard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hauff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology*; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D055815:Young Adult