AUTHOR=Shah Jaffer , Shah Asghar , Tokhi Ahmad Fahim , Shedrow Jordan , Hernandez Nicolas , Varney Joseph , Qaderi Pashton , Masoumi Seyed Javad , Qaderi Shohra 

TITLE=Afghan Health Related Concerns Following the US Withdrawal: Results of a Survey Given via Social Media

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.905481

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.905481

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: The United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30th, 2021, ending 20 years of war in Afghanistan. This rapid timeline from announcement to withdrawal and subsequent power transfer had profound consequences on the Afghan people, particularly in the domains of health and healthcare. Method: on 15 September 2021, we posted an online cross sectional survey on social media (Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp groups) to collect data about the participants all across the country from their COVID-19 symptoms, concerns, and individual care. The distributed google form URL composed of 17 questions including multiple choices, single choices and numeric. Result: Our survey yielded 1,074 responses from the Farsi version and 572 responses from the Pashto version for a total of 1646 responses. 1,286 (80%) of respondents were in Afghanistan at the time of survey submission. Concerning the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, 26% (412) respondents were extremely concerned and 12% (181) were moderately concerned. A majority of respondents report concerns regarding mental health due to the US withdrawal. 27% (418) report extreme concern, 12% (186) report moderate concern, and 15% (229) report a little concern. There is a significant difference in the proportions of concern (for US withdrawal generally, as well as physical and mental health) across gender. 49% of Female respondents report extreme concern regarding the US withdrawal compared to 22% of Male respondents (p<.001). With respect to physical health concerns 36% of Females report extreme concern compared to 16% of Males (p<.001). Finally on the mental health concerns, 54% of Females report extreme concern compared to 22% of Males (p<.001).  
Conclusion: The results from this survey are susceptible to the possibility of internal validity and/or external validity. However, we are accepting of those possibilities considering this survey wasn’t designed to be bulletproof, but rather serve as a voice for those who can’t be heard and to inform the public of the hardships occurring across the globe due to a steadfast retraction of the US footprint from their soil