Structure and features of psychopathological symptoms in forced migrants and internally displaced persons

Abstract

Aim: To study the structure and characteristics of psychopathological symptoms in FM who left Ukraine as a result of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and internally displaced persons, in a comparative aspect. Materials and Methods: Examination was performed in compliance with the principles of biomedical ethics, based on informed consent. Research was provided on the basis of the Ternopil Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Hospital. Inclusion criteria were women who were forced to leave the territory of Ukraine as a result of hostilities after February 24, 2022, and who left for temporary residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland (Poland) (FM), and women who were temporarily relocated within Ukraine in connection with connection with hostilities (IDP). Exclusion criteria from the study were presence of language disorders, pronounced cognitive disorders, severe somatic condition. The examination was organized by the method of a semi-structured clinical interview according to the developed by us protocol and was conducted remotely. During the examination, depressive, anxiety-phobic, asthenic and dyssomnic disorders, addictive behavior and symptoms of PTSDwere identified and verified. Statistical and mathematical processing a was carried out using Fisher’s exact test. Results: The data we obtained indicate a significant spread of psychopathological symptoms in FM and IDP. Conclusions: FM and IDP are characterized by a high incidence of psychopathological symptoms. The most frequent were: depressed mood (FM – 67.2%, IDP – 58.5%), feelings of anxiety and fear (FM –52.5%, IDP – 43.6%), obsessive thoughts (FM – 58.9 %, IDP – 49.5%).