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The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza

BACKGROUND: Access to affordable and clean energy is an essential component of the Sustainable Development Goals and a determinant of physical and mental health. However, the occupied Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, has experienced prolonged issues with electricity, water and gas supplies. Th...

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Autores principales: AbuQamar, Mazen, Eltayyan, Dalia, Kuznetsova, Irina, Dhesi, Surindar, Catling, Jonathan, AL-Dadah, Raya, Saad, Mahmoud, Abuhaiba, Mohammad
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10685693/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37675921
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00207640231194479
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author AbuQamar, Mazen
Eltayyan, Dalia
Kuznetsova, Irina
Dhesi, Surindar
Catling, Jonathan
AL-Dadah, Raya
Saad, Mahmoud
Abuhaiba, Mohammad
author_facet AbuQamar, Mazen
Eltayyan, Dalia
Kuznetsova, Irina
Dhesi, Surindar
Catling, Jonathan
AL-Dadah, Raya
Saad, Mahmoud
Abuhaiba, Mohammad
author_sort AbuQamar, Mazen
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Access to affordable and clean energy is an essential component of the Sustainable Development Goals and a determinant of physical and mental health. However, the occupied Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, has experienced prolonged issues with electricity, water and gas supplies. This has significantly impacted on daily life and the area is on the verge of disaster. This research focused on the mental health effects of the lack of electricity in Gaza which have not been previously documented. METHODS: A cross-sectional analytic approach was adopted. A survey was administrated face-to-face with respondents from 350 participating households. Inferential statistical analysis was used to examine the relationship between the domains of anxiety, depression, wellbeing and electricity supply factors. A multiple linear regression model was also utilised. RESULTS: There is a highly statistically significant link between continuity of electricity and level of anxiety (p < .001). The same effect was reported in the level of depression, and a higher level was observed among residents with an intermittent or disrupted electricity supply, with a statistically significant link between the level of depression and continuity of electricity. CONCLUSION: Electricity issues, especially when combined with other stressors associated with living in Gaza, lead to serious mental health concerns. Urgent attention must be given to developing sustainable, reliable and affordable energy supplies for short- and long-term health and community development.
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spelling pubmed-106856932023-11-30 The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza AbuQamar, Mazen Eltayyan, Dalia Kuznetsova, Irina Dhesi, Surindar Catling, Jonathan AL-Dadah, Raya Saad, Mahmoud Abuhaiba, Mohammad Int J Soc Psychiatry Original Articles BACKGROUND: Access to affordable and clean energy is an essential component of the Sustainable Development Goals and a determinant of physical and mental health. However, the occupied Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, has experienced prolonged issues with electricity, water and gas supplies. This has significantly impacted on daily life and the area is on the verge of disaster. This research focused on the mental health effects of the lack of electricity in Gaza which have not been previously documented. METHODS: A cross-sectional analytic approach was adopted. A survey was administrated face-to-face with respondents from 350 participating households. Inferential statistical analysis was used to examine the relationship between the domains of anxiety, depression, wellbeing and electricity supply factors. A multiple linear regression model was also utilised. RESULTS: There is a highly statistically significant link between continuity of electricity and level of anxiety (p < .001). The same effect was reported in the level of depression, and a higher level was observed among residents with an intermittent or disrupted electricity supply, with a statistically significant link between the level of depression and continuity of electricity. CONCLUSION: Electricity issues, especially when combined with other stressors associated with living in Gaza, lead to serious mental health concerns. Urgent attention must be given to developing sustainable, reliable and affordable energy supplies for short- and long-term health and community development. SAGE Publications 2023-09-07 2023-12 /pmc/articles/PMC10685693/ /pubmed/37675921 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00207640231194479 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
spellingShingle Original Articles
AbuQamar, Mazen
Eltayyan, Dalia
Kuznetsova, Irina
Dhesi, Surindar
Catling, Jonathan
AL-Dadah, Raya
Saad, Mahmoud
Abuhaiba, Mohammad
The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza
title The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza
title_full The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza
title_fullStr The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza
title_full_unstemmed The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza
title_short The impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: An exploratory study in Gaza
title_sort impact of access to electricity on mental health in conflict-affected territories: an exploratory study in gaza
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10685693/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37675921
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00207640231194479
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