Abstract:
Currently, there are 23.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 52 different countries
worldwide. Of them, half of the internally displaced persons in Africa are living in the midst of
war and possible persecution danger. Due to the current conflict in Ethiopia, the number of
internally displaced people is increasing especially in the northern part. Evidences about the
prevalence of PTSD among IDPS are lacking, thus this study aimed to examine the prevalence of
PTSD among internally displaced communities residing in the north wollo zone.diri roka IDP
center. Institution-based cross-sectional study with a mixed-method approach was used. A total
of 413 participants were selected by simple random sampling technique and PTSD civilian
version questionnaire used for data collection.
Data was entered on SPSS software version 20 and analyzed through descriptive statics, one-way
ANOVA, independent sample t-test, and thematic analysis. The result shows that (78.69%) of
participants had developed PTSD symptoms and the Independent sample t-test also indicated
that, there is a significant mean difference in the level of PTSD (t, (2.03) =.043, p<0.05) IDPs),
mean between male and female respondents, the result indicated that there is a statistical
significance mean difference in symptoms of PTSD, across age groups. One-way ANOVA result
also indicated that there is a significant mean differences in the level of PTSD (F 6.02) =p<0.05)
across the educational status. One-way ANOVA also revealed that the level of PTSD (F = 2.49,
P< 0.05)), found to be significant across the marital status. The traumatic event of IDPs,
psychological problems, and psychosocial challenges are the problem of internally displaced
persons in the study area are facing.
