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Article History

Received: 6 January 2026

Accepted: 23 March 2026

First Online: 31 March 2026

Declarations

:

: This study received ethical approval from the University of Duhok, ethics committee on October 3rd, 2021 (approval number: 141). In addition, permission was obtained from the Halabja governorate in April 2022 (reference number: 10/158), including the general directorates of security and police.

: Not applicable.

: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection. Participation was completely voluntary, confidentiality was ensured, and participants were informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time without consequences. For participants not able to read or write, the consent form was read aloud, and informed consent was obtained using a thumbprint in the presence of a witness.

: The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2013.

: The authors declare no competing interests.