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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2016) 51:971979 DOI 10.1007/s00127-016-1243-2
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Psychotic-like experiences in a conict-affected population: a cross-sectional study in South Sudan
Touraj Ayazi1 Leslie Swartz2 Arne H. Eide3 Lars Lien4,5 Edvard Hauff1,6
Received: 23 February 2016 / Accepted: 22 May 2016 / Published online: 28 May 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
AbstractPurpose This study investigates the prevalence of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and examines exposure to potentially traumatic events and other relevant risk factors for PLEs in the general population of a conict-affected, low-income country.
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional community based study of four Greater Bahr el Ghazal States, South Sudan (n = 1200). The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire was applied to investigate exposure to potentially traumatic events. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to detect PLEs.
Results The estimated prevalence of lifetime PLEs was23.3 % and the rate of PLEs which were evaluated as bizarre was 9.5 %. Exposure to higher number of potentially traumatic events, younger age, rural residency, being unemployed, not having a regular income and having traditional religion were signicantly associated with having PLEs. PLEs were signicantly associated with reporting of psychological distress when controlling for other covariates.
Conclusions The nding of association between traumatic exposure and PLEs calls for greater attention to the diversity of negative mental health outcomes in conict-affected populations.
Keywords Psychotic-like experiences Potentially
traumatic events Conict-affected South Sudan
Background
Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are frequent in the general population and include delusions and hallucinations which may or may not be bizarre. The continuum view of psychosis suggests that psychotic symptoms are expressed along a continuum with clinical and non-clinical cases at each end of the spectrum [1]. In other words, PLEs do not necessarily meet the full criteria for psychotic disorders [2]. Nonetheless, individuals with PLEs represent a high-risk group for psychotic illness [3]. Individuals with
& Touraj Ayazi [email protected]
Leslie Swartz [email protected]
Arne H. Eide [email protected]
Lars Lien [email protected]
Edvard Hauff [email protected]
1 Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine,University of Oslo, P.O box 1171, Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway
2 Department of Psychology, Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Stellenbosch University Private,Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
3 SINTEF Technology and Society, P.O. Box 124, Blindern, 0314...