Psychological distress and social support among conflict refugees in urban, semi-rural and rural settlements in Uganda: burden and associations

Table 1 Demographic, social, behavioural and clinical characteristics of participants

Characteristic	n	%^a
Refugee settlement
Adjumani (Rural)	342	33.8
Kyaka II (Semi-rural)	354	35.0
Kisenyi (Urban)	317	31.2
Nationality
South Sudanese (100% of Rural)	343	33.9
Congolese (94% of Semi-rural)	342	33.8
Somali (95% of Urban)	308	29.8
Others (Rwandese, Burundians) (80% in Semi-rural)	26	2.5
Age
15–24	220	21.7
25–34	355	35.0
35–44	254	25.1
45–54	84	8.3
55–64	67	6.6
65–74	25	2.5
75–84	8	0.8
Gender
Male	318	31.4
Female	693	68.4
Religion
Moslem	307	30.3
Catholic	188	18.6
Protestant	370	36.5
Other (e.g. Adventist, Jehovah’s Witness)	14,314.6
Occupation
Employed	34	3.4
Self-employed	120	11.9
Unemployed	712	70.3
Student	113	11.2
Other (shifting e.g. vendor, retailer etc.)	32	3.1
Earnings per week (Ugandan Shillings, UGX)
Less than 50,000 UGX	577	57.1
50,000–100,000 UGX	87	8.7
100,000–200,000 UGX	35	3.5
Over 200,000 UGX	33	3.3
Highest education level
No education	407	40.2
Primary level	303	29.9
Secondary level	230	22.7
Tertiary or vocational	24	2.4
University	46	4.5
Smoker
Yes	38	3.8
No	970	95.8
Drink alcohol
Yes	72	7.2
No	931	91.9
Exercise
Never	450	44.4
Once	175	17.3
2–3 times	258	24.5
4 times or more	127	12.5
Symptoms of COVID-19
Cough	43	4.2
Sneezing	39	3.8
Running nose	28	2.8
Sore throat	20	2.0
Difficulty breathing	20	2.0
Bodily pain	154	15.3
Loss of sense of smell	22	2.2
Loss of sense of taste	27	2.6
At least one of symptoms above	223	22.3

^aPercentages may not add up to 100% due to missing values for some variables. For COVID-19, percentages add up to more than 100% due to possibility of participants presenting with multiple symptoms

ISSN: 1752-1505