Psychiatric disorders among a sample of internally displaced persons in South Darfur

The violent armed conflict in Darfur has been ongoing for years getting the attention of human rights activists and mental health professionals.

The aim of this study was to assess psychiatric disorders in a sample of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Darfur.

A cross-sectional observational study, as a part of the 'Darfur Campaign' organized by Arab Federation of Psychiatrists, assessing psychiatric disorders in a sample of internally displaced women using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I) (clinical version).

Up to 25.7% of participants had lost a close family member or more in the violent clashes. Psychiatric diagnoses were found in 62.2% of the participants. The most frequently reported was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reaching 14.9%, followed by depression 13.5% (among which 2.7% with psychotic features), while comorbid PTSD and depression reached 8.1% of participants. Patients with psychiatric diagnoses had an older age (36.6 years) (p = .024). Suffering from a psychiatric disorder was found to be associated with losing a family member in the conflict (p = .015), being 35.6% in patients with psychiatric diagnoses compared to 10.3% in those without losing a family member in the conflict (odds ratio (OR) =  .7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.25-18.28).

This study used a standardized tool for diagnosing psychiatric morbidity among refugees in Darfur to give as much as possible an actual description of the problems and psychiatric morbidity caused by human-made disasters. This study can help to lead to a more detailed and specific mental health service program much needed by this population.