Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Domiz camp-Duhok city

Background and Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in people who have experienced or witnessed a life threatening event. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of posttraumatic stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Domiz Camp in Duhok City. Methods: Through a cross-sectional study, 500 Syrian refugees were interviewed using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Civilian version (PCL-C) which was translated into the Arabic language. The sample was selected randomly. Refugees who were 20 years old and older and from both sexes were included, and those with severe medical diseases and serious psychiatric diseases (psychotic conditions and mentally retarded) were excluded. Data analysis had been done using the statistical package for the social sciences. Results: The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder was 25.2% (126 cases). There was statistically significant association between the occurrence of PTSD and some variables such as female (28.7%; P = 0.003), housewife (28.5%; P = 0 .012) and nearly significant association with the positive family psychiatric history (42.9%; P = 0.057). The results showed no statistically significant association between the occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder and other variables such as age (P = 0.106), educational level (P = 0.148), marital status (P = 0.210) and patient past psychiatric history (P = 0.164). Conclusions: The high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder among the Syrian refugees (25.2%) makes it one of the most important mental health issues that should be taken into consideration. The females, housewives and those with a positive family psychiatric history are regarded among high risk groups. Early detection and better management of those groups may be of high priority.