Traumatic Events Among Refugees Residing in Mbarara City in Southwestern Uganda

There is a high prevalence of traumatic events among refugees living in Mbarara city and allmost all the respondents had encountered a traumatic event prior to fleeing their home country. Theprevalence of traumatic events (TE) among refugees residing in Mbarara city is not clear Therefore, thisstudy assesses the prevalence of TE among refugees residing in Mbarara city South Western Uganda.Methods: A cross-sectional study among refugees was conducted using pre-coded questionnaires. Purposivesampling was used to recruit refugees and snowball was used to select participants until no more persons tofulfill the inclusion criteria appeared and they had been residing in Mbarara city for 6 months. Data wereentered into excel and exported to Stata-15.0 for analysis. Descriptive and linear regression analyses wereconducted.Results: Out of 344 participants, 215 (62%) were females and 129 (38%) were males. The prevalence of TEwas found to be high with the most traumatizing events being confiscation or destruction of personal property307(89%), Lack of food or water 303(88%), Ill health without access to medical care 291(85%), Lack ofshelter 287(83%), Forced Evacuation under dangerous conditions 287(83%), Combat situation (e.g. shellingand grenade attacks) 275(80%).Conclusions and Recommendations: There is a high prevalence of TE among refugees residing in Mbararacity. Agencies that offer relief to refugees should consider providing access to mental health so the refugeesin Mbarara city can be helped