Serious psychological distress and disability among older persons living in conflict affected areas in eastern Ukraine: a cluster-randomized cross-sectional household survey.

Background: Older persons are often unable to leave conflict areas; however, little is known about the mental and physical health among this population. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of and whether there was an association between psychological distress and disability among older persons affected by conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized cross-sectional household survey of persons aged ≥60 years in government and non-government controlled areas (GCA and NGCA) of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in January-March 2016.