Traumatic Situations in Victims of Forced Displacement in Colombia with a Diagnosis of PTSD: Onset, Types, Frequencies, Severity and Impact

Introduction: Armed conflict is associated with the presence of emotional symptoms and mental disorders in victims, the most recurrent being post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, anxiety and depressive reactions. The purpose of the study is to characterise situations due to forced displacement in people who meet diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder according to gender. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional non-experimental study in a sample consisting of 1367 subjects between 18 and 70 years of age included in the single registry of victims, of which 588 were classified as the clinical sample. The symptoms, history and severity of PTSD were evaluated using the EGEP-5 instrument. The data were analysed using descriptive and frequency techniques, as well as differences in means and Chi2 in relation to the gender variable. Results: In categorizing situations, it was observed that women were exposed with a significantly higher frequency than men to physical violence, sexual harassment and partner violence; in turn, men were exposed with a significantly higher frequency than women to acts of terrorism or torture, serious accidents in means of transport, other types of accidents and violence, abuse or sexual assault. Conclusions: All the people included in this study, in addition to the fact of forced displacement, have been exposed to at least one potentially traumatizing adverse event; of these, just over two-fifths meet clinical criteria for PTSD and, no less noticeable, is the fact that they are polytraumatised people, having been exposed to multiple traumatic situations.