OBJECTIVE: to elucidate the psychosocial correlates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the burn victims of Pakistan.
METHODOLOGY: A total of 200 burn victims were included in the sample. The standardized measures were used to assess the symptom levels of PTSD. The detailed demographic profile of the patients was also received for gleaning the demographics’ association with PTSD symptoms. The screening of PTSD symptoms for further clinical management had also been catered through this data collection strategy. For analysis SPSS Version 22.0 was employed.
RESULT: Mean age of the respondents was 30.56+10.3 years. Most of the respondents were males (n=111, 55.5%), panjabi speaking (n=120; 60%), followers of Islam (n=146; 73%), lower socioeconomic class (n=93; 45.5%), illiterate (n=114; 57%), Unemployed/Housewife (n=155; 77.5%) and were married (n=143; 71.5%). Most of the respondents had high PTSD levels (n=169; 84.5%). Panjabi natives (n=105/120; 87.5%), married persons (n=120/143), urban background (n= 110/118; 93.2%), persons currently living with children (n=102/123; 82.9%), Unemployed/Housewife (n=140/155; 90.3%), illiterate (n=109/114; 95.6%), respondents who experienced domestic violence (n=150/151; 99.3%) and those experienced burn injuries less than one-year duration (n=140/151; 92.7%) had higher PTSD levels than their counterparts. Fifty-one (25.5 %) respondents had suicidal ideation.
CONCLUSION: Being male, married, illiterate, urban background, having history of domestic abuse, unemployed/housewives, having lower education level and experienced burn injuries less than one-year duration are significant psychosocial correlates of PTSD in patients with fire burns
