title: Depression and posttraumatic stress disorder among road traffic accident victims managed in a Tertiary hospital in Southern Nigeria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychological responses to traumatic events vary widely across different cultures but studies in the developing countries are scant. The objective of this study is to determine prevalence of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among patients involved in road traffic accident (RTA) compared with that of the general population using a matched control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study design was case control and employed the convenient sampling technique. All consecutive attendees of the trauma clinic of a Tertiary Hospital who had been involved in RTA in the previous year and met inclusion criteria were recruited to participate in the study. Controls were drawn from patient relatives attending other clinics in the same hospital. The final sample comprised of 46 cases and controls, totaling 92 participants. A Sociodemographic questionnaire, the PTSD, and depression modules of the Mini International neuropsychiatric interview were administered to both groups by trained research assistants. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22. Statistical significance was set at 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of PTSD among cases was 41.3% compared with 13% among controls, whereas the prevalence of depression among cases was 63% compared with 30.4% among the controls. Both of these findings were statistically significant (P < 0.002). Sociodemographic variables such as age, sex, marital status, religion, level of education, and occupation did not have statistically significant relationship with neither PTSD nor depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mental disorders such as PTSD and depression are common in victims of RTA. They would benefit from comanagement with mental health specialists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Asuquo
authors.affiliation: Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Edet
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: I E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Abang
authors.affiliation: Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Essien
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: O G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Osakwe
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Aigbomain
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chigbundu
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D055815:Young Adult