Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study

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dc.contributor.authorAtwoli, Lukoyeen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStein, Danen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Daviden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMclaughlin, Katieen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPetukhova, Mariaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKessler, Ronalden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKoenen, Karestanen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-23T12:09:47Z
dc.date.available2015-11-23T12:09:47Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: South Africa's unique history, characterised by apartheid, a form of constitutional racial segregation and exploitation, and a long period of political violence and state-sponsored oppression ending only in 1994, suggests a high level of trauma exposure in the general population. The aim of this study was to document the epidemiology of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the South African general population. METHODS: The South African Stress and Health Study is a nationally representative survey of South African adults using the WHO's Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess exposure to trauma and presence of DSM-IV mental disorders. RESULTS: The most common traumatic events were the unexpected death of a loved one and witnessing trauma occurring to others. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of PTSD were 2.3% and 0.7% respectively, while the conditional prevalence of PTSD after trauma exposure was 3.5%. PTSD conditional risk after trauma exposure and probability of chronicity after PTSD onset were both highest for witnessing trauma. Socio-demographic factors such as sex, age and education were largely unrelated to PTSD risk. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of trauma and PTSD in South Africa is not distributed according to the socio-demographic factors or trauma types observed in other countries. The dominant role of witnessing in contributing to PTSD may reflect the public settings of trauma exposure in South Africa and highlight the importance of political and social context in shaping the epidemiology of PTSD.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAtwoli, L., Stein, D., Williams, D., Mclaughlin, K., Petukhova, M., Kessler, R., & Koenen, K. (2013). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study. <i>BMC Psychiatry</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15255en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAtwoli, Lukoye, Dan Stein, David Williams, Katie Mclaughlin, Maria Petukhova, Ronald Kessler, and Karestan Koenen "Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study." <i>BMC Psychiatry</i> (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15255en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAtwoli, L., Stein, D. J., Williams, D. R., Mclaughlin, K. A., Petukhova, M., Kessler, R. C., & Koenen, K. C. (2013). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study. BMC psychiatry, 13(1), 182.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Atwoli, Lukoye AU - Stein, Dan AU - Williams, David AU - Mclaughlin, Katie AU - Petukhova, Maria AU - Kessler, Ronald AU - Koenen, Karestan AB - BACKGROUND: South Africa's unique history, characterised by apartheid, a form of constitutional racial segregation and exploitation, and a long period of political violence and state-sponsored oppression ending only in 1994, suggests a high level of trauma exposure in the general population. The aim of this study was to document the epidemiology of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the South African general population. METHODS: The South African Stress and Health Study is a nationally representative survey of South African adults using the WHO's Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess exposure to trauma and presence of DSM-IV mental disorders. RESULTS: The most common traumatic events were the unexpected death of a loved one and witnessing trauma occurring to others. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of PTSD were 2.3% and 0.7% respectively, while the conditional prevalence of PTSD after trauma exposure was 3.5%. PTSD conditional risk after trauma exposure and probability of chronicity after PTSD onset were both highest for witnessing trauma. Socio-demographic factors such as sex, age and education were largely unrelated to PTSD risk. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of trauma and PTSD in South Africa is not distributed according to the socio-demographic factors or trauma types observed in other countries. The dominant role of witnessing in contributing to PTSD may reflect the public settings of trauma exposure in South Africa and highlight the importance of political and social context in shaping the epidemiology of PTSD. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1471-244X-13-182 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Psychiatry LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study TI - Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15255 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15255
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-13-182
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAtwoli L, Stein D, Williams D, Mclaughlin K, Petukhova M, Kessler R, et al. Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study. BMC Psychiatry. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15255.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltden_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Healthen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2013 Atwoli et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceBMC Psychiatryen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpsychiatry/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherPosttraumatic stress disorderen_ZA
dc.subject.otherTraumaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.titleTrauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Studyen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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