Awad Mohammed Haydar, Mohamed Rahaf Salah, Abbas Maram Mutasim, Absam Mala Babeldin
Faculty of Medicine, Karary University, Khartoum, Sudan.
, Abusead, Block No. 53, House No. 697, Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan.
Discov Ment Health. 2024 Aug 15;4(1):28. doi: 10.1007/s44192-024-00084-3.
Tiredness, poor concentration, disturbed sleep and poor appetite can all be caused by depression, which is a common mental disorder and a leading cause of disability worldwide. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation, and risk factors in Sudanese children and adolescents during the Sudanese army conflict.
A descriptive cross-sectional community-based study was carried out among Sudanese children between 11 and 17 years old who living in Sudan at the start of the conflict by using a self-administered questionnaire under the guidance of parents, if necessary. The questionnaire was adapted from the Patients Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) checklist for the assessment of major depression disorder symptoms according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Edition 5th Edition (DSM-5). The questionnaire was translated into Arabic by two expert translators, and its validity and reliability were confirmed. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25 software, and descriptive analysis and any appropriate statistical tests were performed.
Among the 963 participants, the mean age was 15.18 ± 2.1 years, 65.5% were female, and 67.7% had major depressive disorder. There was a significant relationship between MDD score, age, sex, current residency status, and traumatic event exposure, with P values less than 0.001 for all variables.
Major depressive disorder was highly prevalent among Sudanese children and adolescents included in the present study. Additionally, suicidal ideation, which requires immediate intervention, was reported to be very high. The findings will help the government to provide proper mental health interventions for affected people.
疲劳、注意力不集中、睡眠障碍和食欲不振都可能由抑郁症引起，抑郁症是一种常见的精神障碍，也是全球致残的主要原因。本研究旨在评估苏丹军队冲突期间苏丹儿童和青少年中重度抑郁症、自杀意念及危险因素的患病率。
在冲突开始时居住在苏丹的11至17岁苏丹儿童中开展了一项基于社区的描述性横断面研究，必要时在家长指导下使用自填式问卷。该问卷改编自患者健康问卷9项清单（PHQ - 9），用于根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第5版（DSM - 5）评估重度抑郁症症状。问卷由两名专家翻译翻译成阿拉伯语，并确认了其有效性和可靠性。使用社会科学统计软件包第25版软件进行数据分析，并进行描述性分析和任何适当的统计检验。
在963名参与者中，平均年龄为15.18±2.1岁，65.5%为女性，67.7%患有重度抑郁症。MDD得分、年龄、性别、当前居住状况和创伤事件暴露之间存在显著关系，所有变量的P值均小于0.001。
本研究纳入的苏丹儿童和青少年中重度抑郁症患病率很高。此外，据报告需要立即干预的自杀意念也非常高。这些发现将有助于政府为受影响人群提供适当的心理健康干预措施。
