POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AMONGST SURGICAL RESIDENTS OFRAWALPINDI

Objectives: To determine the frequency of PTSD among surgical trainees and correlation of PTSD with demographic profile and well-being in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Methods:  A questionnaire-based study was conducted in Surgery and allied departments of Holy family hospital, Combined Military Hospital, Military Hospital, Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, PIMS Hospital, Islamabad, District Headquarters hospital, Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology and Benazir Bhutto hospital, on 207 surgical trainees. It was a cross sectional descriptive study and stratified random sampling was used to collect data. Study was conducted from April 2018 to April 2020. Non-surgical and non-Pakistan based surgeons were excluded from the study. Questionnaires were designed with PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and WHO well-being index. SPSS v25 was used for data analysis.

Results: For 164 returned surveys the mean age was 29.2 (SD 2.9) years; 100/164 respondents were male. Mean years in training were 2.66 (SD 1.4). Median PCL-5 score was 14. 31/164 respondents had cut off score ≥ 33. 38/164 respondents met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Females were more likely to have PTSD p=0.016(<0.05). Correlation between PCL-5 score and WHO well-being index was found to be significant at the 0.000 level, showing a -0.332 Pearson correlation value.

 Conclusion:  PTSD amongst surgical trainees may be higher than in the general population. Recognition and management of this risk is important for the mental health of trainees and the safety of patients.

Keywords:   PTSD, Surgical Trainees, Well-being, PCL 5