Prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder among Basrah medical students

Abstract EN

Background Post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by the emergence of core symptoms of the disorder after exposure to an extreme traumatic experience.

Traumatic events that may cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder includes violent assault, kidnapping, sexual assault, torture, being a hostage, prisoner of war, experiencing a disaster, violent automobile accidents or getting a life threatening illness.

Methodology A cross-sectional study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of trauma and probable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among the students of Basrah Medical College in 2007.

A sample of 60 students was selected randomly from each class.

A special questionnaire form was developed for the purpose of the study, containing the self–rating inventory for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Results The results of the present study showed that 238 (66.1%) students had reported being exposed to traumatic event during their life.

The percentage of females who were exposed to trauma was slightly higher than that of males (67.8% vs 64.4%).

Out of the total studied students, 211 (58.6%) students fulfilled the symptom criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, thus assessed as probable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.