New study about survivors of the Kosovo war

There have been several studies of the effects of the Yugoslav wars and the Kosovo war on mental health, but surprisingly little is known about the nutritional status and physical functioning of victims exposed to massive violence. The present study has looked at both the emotional and physical fitness of the survivors and examined how various personal factors, inter-personal relationships and the extent of political involvement and social participation interact with emotional and physical fitness.

The study is following a House-hold survey which assessed the long-lasting effects of ethnic conflict on health and well-being with a focus on injury and persistent pain at family and community level. A group of victims of massive violence, identified in the household survey, was recruited for a detailed study of their traumatic experience, the effect of different factors on their ability to cope with life and their present health condition.

Conclusions
The victims reported a high prevalence of severe pain and emotional disturbance. They showed high BMI and a reduced level of physical fitness. Education, employment, political and social participation were associated with emotional well-being. Interventions to promote physical activity and social participation are therefore recommended. The results indicate that the rapid assessment procedure used here offers an adequate tool for collecting data for the monitoring of health interventions among the most vulnerable groups of a population exposed to violence.

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Publication
Survivors of war in the Northern Kosovo (II): baseline clinical and functional assessment and lasting effects on the health of a vulnerable population

Authors

Shr-Jie Wang, Sebahate Pacolli, Feride Rushiti, Berina Rexhaj, and Jens Modvig

Published in

Conflict and Health 2010, 4:16doi:10.1186/1752-1505-4-16