Post-traumatic stress symptoms in patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
saeedeh azaraeen 1
Reza Faryabi 2
Ali Kamali 3
Thereh Rahimi 4
1 PhD of Psychology, Researcher of Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran
2 Assistant professor, Department of Public Health, School of Health, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran
4 Assistant professor, Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
Abstract
Introduction:

In addition to physical health, the epidemic of COVD-19 has significant effects on mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the post-traumatic stress symptoms in people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The population of this study was all people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to COVID-19 ward of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Jiroft city during the summer of 2020, who were chosen throw convenient sampling. Eventually 304 people were available through sampling, who were diagnosed with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and consented to participate in the study, answered the demographic information questionnaire and the Post-Traumatic Symptoms Scale (PTSS-10) and the Revised Event Impact Scale (IES-R). The findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA and at the significance level 0.05.

Results: The results of this study showed that the mean scores of IES and PTSS for the studied subjects were 34.55±14.92 and 2.66±2.59, respectively, overall 46.8% of the participants considered the psychological effects of COVID-19 as moderate to severe and were at risk for PTSD.
Conclusion: According to the results, at least half of the people confronted with COVID-19 are exposed to psychological effects and the risk of PTSS. Providing timely counseling and treatment services on time can prevent possible consequences
Keywords
Psychological effects
Post-traumatic stress symptoms
Epidemic
COVID-19
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