Objectives: To determine the extent of trauma and mental health problems. Design: Screening surveys. Setting: Sudanese refugee communities in Northern Ugandan camps. Subjects: 100 adult refugees, 44 ex-soldiers, 60 patients at camp outpatient health facilities, 63 traditional healers' patients and 56 refugee children. Main Outcome Measure: Rate of trauma. Results: The most common trauma events experienced by 100 adults were forced isolation from others (94%), forced separation from family members (91%) and lack of food or water (83%). Thirty two percent of the adults suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Among the 56 children, 12 (20%) suffered from a chronic PTSD. Forty four ex-soldiers scored a median of 74.6 (Q1 = 62.3; Q3 = 79.1) on the depressive scale of the Hopskins Symptom checklist. Out of 60 outpatients at a dispensary, 12 (20%) had psychological disorder. Out of a total of 63 patients attending traditional and faith healers' facilities, 26% suffered from PTSD and 39% from depressive disorder. Conclusion: High rates of trauma and psychosocial problems were found among Sudanese refugees in Uganda.

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Needs Assessment refugee mass screening health survey Population Surveillance human Life Change Events Refugees middle aged war Sudan statistics life event Aged morbidity ethnology Uganda Mental Disorders mental disease Humans Adolescent male female questionnaire Article Questionnaires adult posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Child