title: Group psychological therapy in obstetric fistula care: a complementary recipe for the accompanying mental ill health morbidities?
abstract: The objective of this study is to determine the impact of group psychological therapy (GPT) on the mental health of obstetric fistula patients. It was a comparative pre and post intervention design. All patients had GPT prior to surgery and mental health assessment conducted before and after surgical repair. There was a significant reduction in proportion of those with severe mental health status after surgery. Specifically, the proportion of those with depression score of 4 and above reduced from 71.7% to 43.4%, and those with score of less than 4 increased from 28.3 to 56.6 percent. There was a significant reduction in those with very low self-esteem from 65.0% to 18.3%. Suicidal ideation reduced generally; severe (15.0 to 0%), moderate (16.7 to 5.0%) and mild (25.0 to 21.7%) and those without increased (43.3 to 73.3%). In conclusion, GPT is a useful adjunct to OF care as it improves their overall mental health status.
authors.forename: Oladosu A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Ojengbede
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Imran O
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Morhason-Bello
authors.forename: Margret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armah
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimiti
authors.forename: Dragudi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buwa
authors.forename: Makur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kariom
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D013397:Sudan; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014624:Vaginal Fistula / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery