Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Point Prevalence and Risk Factors Among Sudanese Children and Adolescents During Sudan Army Conflict: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Background Suffering from war, living in conflict area, and forced displaced all have the impact to lead or increase the risk to a lot of physical and mental health, especially for children and their parents. The most common disorder that people survived from war zones is posttraumatic stress Disorder. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in Sudanese children and adolescents during Sudan army conflict that have been started in 2023. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional community-based study was carried out among all Sudanese children and adolescents between 8 and 18 years old and residents in Sudan at the start of the conflict, by using a self-administrated questionnaire under parent's guide, if necessary. The questionnaire was adapted from the Child Posttraumatic stress disorder Symptoms Scale Self Report (CPSS-5-SR) for the assessment of PTSD symptoms. The questionnaire was translated into Arabic and its validity and reliability were confirmed. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 software, descriptive analysis, and any appropriate statistical tests were done. Results Out of 1078 participants, the mean age was 15.18 ± 2.98 years, 64.1% were female, and 44.6% had posttraumatic stress disorder. There was a significant relationship between PTSD, sex, age, current residency, and traumatic event exposure with a P value less than 0.001 in all of them. Conclusion PTSD was highly prevalent among the Sudanese children and adolescents featured in the study. The findings will given to the government to provide proper mental health interventions for the affected people.