Psychological distress among Sri Lankan Army servicemen with a permanent physical disability due to battle injuries in the civil war of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: The Sri Lankan civil war existed for nearly three decades and military operations were initiated in the areas that were under the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE). Majority of military servicemen affected physically and psychologically due to this war. Evaluating the psychological distress level among disabled army servicemen is essential to initiate effective interventions to reduce negative consequences. Aim: To determine the psychological distress level among physically disabled Army servicemen in Sri Lanka. Methods: A simple random sample of 156 Sri Lankan Army servicemen with permanent physical disability due to battle injuries in the civil war were selected from "Abhimansala" wellness resorts (Anuradhapura, Matara, Kurunegala), Mihindu Sevana Aththidiya and Ranaviru Sevana, Ragama. An interview-based questionnaire was used to collect personal data and physical disabilities and the General Health Questionnaire(GHQ) was used to detect psychological distress. Results: Out of 156 servicemen, 152(97.4%) were included in the study. Among all the servicemen 53(34.9%) had multiple injury types. The most common injury type was nerve injury (102;67.1%) and having one or more amputations (59;38.8%) was the second most common injury type. Only 11(7.2%) servicemen had a positive GHQ score. Age (p= 0.007) and having multiple injuries (p=0.008) showed significant associations with a positive GHQ score. The pattern of alcohol consumption, smoking pattern and the severity of disability haven’t had significant associations with positive GHQ score. Conclusion: Majority of the disabled Sri Lankan Army servicemen showed a decreased level of psychological distress.