Abstrato

Causes of medical repatriations and mortality among Ethiopian peacekeepers in the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) mission.

Mebrate Degefu Shumeye, Shewaget Legusse

Introduction: Ethiopia has a long history of participation in United Nations (UN) peace operations since 1950. Currently the country is involved in large and complex peacekeeping operation in different African countries. Objective: To assess causes of medical repatriations and mortality among Ethiopian peacekeepers in the United Nations Interim Security Force for ABYEI (UNISFA) Mission. Method: Retrospective documents review study design was applied. From June 2011 to August 2020. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23 statistical package. Data cleaning was performed to check for accuracy, consistency and missed values. Frequencies, proportions and summary statistics were used to describe the study population in relation to relevant variables. The impact of selected socio -demographic and other characteristics of causes of medical repatriations and mortality was investigated using both the bivariate method and the multivariable logistic regression technique. Result: The common causes of medical repatriations in UNISFA mission in Ethiopian peacekeepers were 63 (26.9%) due to Injuries, 39 (16.7%) diseases of the digestive system and 30 (12.8%) mental and behavioral disorder and the common causes of death were 38.2% due to illness, 29.4% accident, 23.5% malicious act and 3 (8.8%) others. In multi variables analysis sex, rank and past medical history were statistically significantly associated with the medical repatriation due to illness, and those who were male patients were 16 times repatriated by illness than females. (AOR=16.64; 95%CI=2.03-135.74, P=0.09), Higher rank officers 2.5 times repatriated due to illness than Non-officers (AOR=2.5; 95%CI =1.25-6.14, P=0.027) and patients who had past medical history 11 times repatriated by illness than those who do not have a past medical problems (AOR=11.14; 95% CI =5.55-22.38, P=0.00). Conclusions: Analysis of the causes of medical repatriations and death in Ethiopian peacekeepers indicated more repatriations and death occurs by illness than accidents and malicious acts. The majority of patients who were repatriated from the mission area to their home country due to chronic illness and two-thirds of patients had past medical history. This indicated poor pre-deployment screening system and pre-existing medical condition which was aggravated by stressful mission and weather condition.