Basheti IA, Ayasrah SM, Basheti MM, Mahfuz J, Chaar B. The Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan: a cross sectional pharmacist-led study assessing post-traumatic stress disorder.
Pharm Pract (Granada) 2019;
17:1475. [PMID:
31592018 PMCID:
PMC6763294 DOI:
10.18549/pharmpract.2019.3.1475]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 07/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background:
The United Nations has declared the Syrian crisis as the worst humanitarian
crisis of the twenty-first century. Pharmacists play a vital role in
humanitarian aid and in delivering health advices for refugees. Many Syrian
refugees are in need of psychosocial assessments.
Objective:
Objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), assessed by pharmacists among Syrian civilian
refugees residing in Amman, Jordan.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study involving Syrian civilian refugees living in Amman,
Jordan, was conducted using the published and validated Arabic version of
the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). Pharmacists recruited civilian
Syrian refugees and completed the HTQ. The questionnaire included 45
questions, with the first 16 questions (HTQ-16) intended to assess the
trauma symptoms felt by refugees. Assessments were done by the pharmacists
and refugees were categorized to suffer PTSD if their mean item score for
the HTQ-16 scale was > 2.5.
Results:
Study participants (n=186; mean age 31.5 years; 51.3% males) had a
HTQ-16 mean score of 2.35 (SD=0.53), with a range of 1.19 - 3.63. Over a
third of participants (38.7%) were categorized as having PTSD. Males
reported significantly worse PTSD symptoms (mean=2.42, SD=0.50) compared to
females (mean=2.26, SD=0.57). Correlation between the mean item score for
the HTQ-16 and characteristics of the study participants showed higher mean
item score correlated with being a male, older in age, a smoker, and if
trauma was experienced.
Conclusions:
Many Syrian civilian refugees living in Jordan suffer from PTSD. Male
participants were found to be more affected by the severity of the disorder.
Pharmacists are suitably situated to identify civilian Syrian refugees
suffering from PTSD in dire need of help, paving the way for much needed
healthcare resources to be delivered to this particular group of
refugees.
Collapse