The prevalence of Psychosomatic Disorders among Traumatized Palestinian Adolescents in Gaza Strip
Date
2009-08-17
Authors
Nazmeia Abdel Majeed Abu Sneada
نظيمة عبدالمجيد ابو سنيدة
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Al-Quds University
Abstract
Aims: To determine the prevalence of psychosomatic disorders among traumatized Palestinian adolescents in Gaza Strip and to detect the relationship between traumatic events and psychosomatic disorders.
Method: The study sample consisted of 380 adolescents from secondary schools in Gaza Strip, 182 of adolescents were males and 198 were females. Aged from 15-18 years. The sample were collected from North Gaza, Gaza city, Mid Zone, Khan Younis and Rafah. The researcher used descriptive analytic method for data collection by using structured tools as socio-demographic questionnaire , War on Gaza traumatic events checklist , and psychosomatic disorders scale.
Results: The result revealed that the Palestinian adolescents exposed to traumatic events, mean of 14.2 events, The study showed that 35.3% of adolescents were reported mild trauma, 46.6% of them reported moderate trauma, and 18.2% reported severe trauma of study sample, while the most traumatic events due to war on Gaza was "Watching mutilated bodies and wounded people in TV " which rated 92.3% of study sample and " Hearing shelling of the area by artillery" which rated 89.4% .
the result found that 29.5% of study sample experienced from psychosomatic disorders, The most frequently reported were other disorders 35.6%, psychological disorders 35.4%, metabolic disorders 32.4%, skeletal disorders 30.9% , cardiovascular 28.1% , digestive disorders 53.7% , respiratory disorders 22.1% , Urogenital disorders 22.0% , while the lowest disorders were skin disorders 19.3% .
The study showed that there were significant correlation between psychosomatic disorders and traumatic events among study sample, which means the high incidence of traumatic events will combined with high incidence of psychosomatic disorders .
According to demographic data the results revealed that there were no significant differences between psychosomatic disorders according to sex, while there were significant differences between psychological and other disorders according to sex among study sample toward females .
The results showed there were no significant differences between the psychosomatic disorders according to type of residence (city, camp, and village) , while there were significant differences between digestive disorders and Urogenital disorders according to type of residence toward city and village .
The results showed there were significant differences between psychosomatic disorders (psychological disorders, metabolic disorder, Skeletal disorders, digestive disorders, Urogenital disorders) according to place of residence toward Gaza and North Gaza, while there were no significant differences between the rest of psychosomatic disorders according to place of residence .
There were significant differences between psychosomatic disorders according to monthly income toward "less than 600 NIS ".
Conclusion: Adolescents exposed to traumatic events are at risk of developing psychosomatic disorders. A great need for establishing school based programmes to deal with adolescents affected by community and traumatic events