The Psychological Impact of Al Aqsa Intifada Physical Injury on the Injured Palestinian Adults in Gaza Strip

Abstract

Background : Researchers long been a concern in the study of physical injury and the extent of their impact on the functional aspect. Recently more attention is given to the psychological side of physical injury , but it is still low. In our region Israeli violence against Palestinians is considered the main cause of physical injury among Palestinian people especially among young adults ( Palestinian Health Information Centre ,2006), and it affect psychological state of Palestinian people at is shown in many studies . Objective of this study : The main purpose of this study is to asses the psychological impact of different physical injuries resulting from El-Aqsa Intifada events on injured Palestinian adults, and to determine the variables that may increase the risk of developing psychological problems after the physical injury including (age, sex, marital status ,educational level, occupation ,time since injury ,site of the injury and type of the injury . Study design : The researcher used in this study descriptive analytical approach, because this approach suits the nature of the study . Participants : The study sample consisted of 300 injured Palestinians from both sexes ,aged 18 or older who were injured through out Al- Aqsa intifada events between the period 2005 and 2008 and they live in Gaza Strip conservatisms, and who were registered in the Support of the Families of Martyrs and Injured Institution (SFMII). We exclude brain injuries. Instruments of the Study: SCL-90 scale was used to measure the nine psychological symptoms including depression ,anxiety, somatization, obsessive compulsive ,interpersonal sensitivity ,hostility ,phobic anxiety ,paranoid ideation and psychoticism , and simple questionnaire that describes the injury characteristics including ( site of the injury, nature of the injury, the type of weapons used , pain due to injury and healing from the injury ). Statistical Analysis : in this study we used Descriptive Statistics, Correlation Coefficient "Pearson" ,t-Test and One Way ANNOVA . Results : (1) The results related to descriptive analysis about the characteristics of the injury suffered by the individuals in the sample showed that The most commonly injured body regions were the limbs (74.0 %) and multiple body parts regions injury (60.0%). The face injury was (33 ,3 %), abdomen injury was (31.3 % ),chest injury was (29,7 % ), back injury was ( 28, 3%), pelvic injury was (16.7%),and finally( 14.3%) of cases was neck injury. Fragments and explosives (63,3 %) were the most common cause of injury. (34.3%) of the respondents were injured as a result of explosion of missile fragments resulting from aerial bombardment, while (29%) were injured as a result of the explosion fragments of artillery shells. Bullets accounted (36.7%), and( 7 %) for other weapons. (2)The results showed that more psychological symptoms which injured individuals suffer from it were somatization with relative weight of (39%), followed by obsessive-compulsive ( 33.2%) , interpersonal sensitivity (32.5%) , (32%) had depression, and (30.9%) for anxiety , and (30.3%) for hostility, (29.5%) for paranoid ideation , (26.2%, )for phobic anxiety and finally (25.1%) for psychotics .These psychological symptoms related to the following factors (older age, female gender ,low educational level, occupation, time since injury, site of the injury and type of the injury, but not related to marital status variable. Conclusions : The physical injury resulting from second Palestinian intifada uprising has a significant impact on the psychological wellbeing of the injured Palestinian adults in Gaza Strip. Recommendations : psychological aspect of physical injury should be given more attention and considered in all stages of trauma care intervention including rehabilitation to decrease the psychological suffering of the injured people and to prevent developing of the psychological disorder