Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Iranian Women With Genital Mutilation

Abstract Background: The conflicting evidence on the relationship between female genital mutilation/ cutting (FGM/C‎) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be due to the differences in the prevalence and type of FGM/C‎ in different societies. The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency and severity of PTSD and its related factors among Iranian women with genital mutilation.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 155 women with genital mutilation aged 18-45 years referred to the health centers in Mahabad, located in west of Iran from October 2020 to April 2021. The participants were selected using convenience sampling method. After obtaining the informed consent form from the participants, the first researcher in the presence of a gynecologist determined the type of genital mutilation through the gynecological examination. The data were collected using demographic and obstetric characteristics and post-traumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL5) and analyzed using SPSS21 software. Further, independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multivariate linear regression were used.Result: Six women (3.9%) with genital mutilation had PTSD. The mean (SD) score of the PTSD symptoms among women with genital mutilation was 27.73 (6.79), ranging from 0 - 80. The age of genital mutilation, level of education, and type of residence were considered as the most important predictors of the severity of the symptoms of PTSD among women with type 1 genital mutilation, as explaining 48.1% of the variance.Conclusion and recommendation: The results indicated that the severity of the PTSD symptoms enhanced among women with genital mutilation by increasing age of genital mutilation and decreasing socio-economic levels. It is recommended to conduct the similar studies among women with other types of FGM/C‎.