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Mental and physical health of Kosovar Albanians in their place of origin: A post-war six-year follow-up study. Ariel Eytan *, Ann Guthmiller**, Ruhje Hodza Beganovic**, Patrick A Bovier*, Sophie Durieux-Paillard*, Louis Loutan*, Marianne Gex-Fabry*. *. **. Agenda. 6 years in 10 minutes
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Mental and physical health of Kosovar Albanians in their place of origin: A post-war six-year follow-up study Ariel Eytan*, Ann Guthmiller**, Ruhje Hodza Beganovic**, Patrick A Bovier*, Sophie Durieux-Paillard*, Louis Loutan*, Marianne Gex-Fabry* * **
Agenda • 6 years in 10 minutes • Background of the first survey (2001) • Organization of the follow-up study (2007) • Main comparative results • Future perspectives
Background • Peace agreement in June 1999 • Return of Kosovar refugees from Switzerland (34,000 people by 2001) • Objectives of the 2001 study: • Assess the health status of Kosovar returnees • Identify risk factors leading to worse mental health • Monitor the evolution of health situation in time
Population • Random selection from a list of 12’000 heads of household who received financial support from the Swiss government • Identification of 319 « households » • = 94% of eligible (n=340) • 2’110 persons • 996 over 15 years persons interviewed • 580 persons were returnees from Switzerland (58%) • 214 from other countries (22%) • 202 stayed in Kosovo (20%)
Variables and measures • Clinical issues: • 1. Perceived mental & physical health • Short-Form 36 (8 dimensions) • 2. Post-traumatic stress disorder • M.I.N.I. (PTSD Section) • 3. Health services use • Hospitalization in the last month • Visit to a doctor in the last month • Any health care use in past 12 months
Local partner: IOM • Logistics • Supervision of surveyors • Vehicles • Data entry
Results… • Published • Feed-back to professionals in Kosovo and IOM Prishtina
Follow-up in 2007 • Same methodology (MD and tobacco use added in 2007) • Same partners • 551 (55.3%) subjects from the initial 996 participants sample were interviewed • Context: ethnic tensions and harsh living conditions persisted, despite political efforts toward reconciliation and several ongoing reconstruction programs
Some results • Overall prevalence of PTSD was • 23.2% in 2001 • 14.5% in 2007 (p<0.001) • 67.5% of subjects never met diagnostic criteria for PTSD • 5.3% had persistent PTSD on both assessments • 18.0% remitted • 9.3% developed PTSD between 2001 and 2007
Kosovan mountains Thank you for your attention !