Kirsten Johnson
Association of Combatant Status and Sexual Violence With Health and Mental Health Outcomes in Postconflict Liberia
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
liberias wars since 1989 cost tens thousands lives left many people mentally physically traumatizedto assess prevalence impact warrelated psychosocial trauma including information participation liberian civil wars exposure sexual violence social functioning mental healtha crosssectional populationbased multistage random cluster survey 1666 adults aged 18 years older using structured interviews questionnaires conducted 3week period may 2008 liberiasymptoms major depressive disorder mdd posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd social functioning exposure sexual violence health mental health needs among liberian adults witnessed participated conflicts last 2 decadesin liberian adult householdbased population 40 95 confidence interval ci 3645 n 6721659 met symptom criteria mdd 44 95 ci 3849 n 7181661 met symptom criteria ptsd 8 95 ci 510 n 1331666 met criteria social dysfunction thirtythree percent respondents 5491666 reported served time fighting forces 332 former combatant respondents 182549 female former combatants experienced higher rates exposure sexual violence noncombatants among females 423 95 ci 354491 vs 92 95 ci 67117 respectively among males 326 95 ci 276376 vs 74 95 ci 45104 rates symptoms ptsd mdd suicidal ideation higher among former combatants noncombatants among experienced sexual violence vs prevalence ptsd symptoms among female former combatants experienced sexual violence 74 95 ci 6384 higher among experience sexual violence 44 95 ci 3353 prevalence ptsd symptoms among male former combatants experienced sexual violence higher 81 95 ci 7487 among male former combatants experience sexual violence 46 95 ci 3952 male former combatants experienced sexual violence also reported higher rates symptoms depression suicidal ideation former combatants noncombatants experienced inadequate access health care 330 95 ci 226434 301 95 ci 187416 respectivelyformer combatants liberia exclusively male female male former combatants experienced sexual violence worse mental health outcomes noncombatants former combatants experience exposure sexual violence