Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Adult Burn Patients: A Study From Urban Tertiary Care Hospitals in Pakistan.

Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the main psychological conditions that develops after a traumatic event such as a burn injury. Patients often experience flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety attacks, and endless thoughts about the traumatic burn injury, which deteriorate their quality of life. These patients are usually socially isolated, have low self-esteem, and are more likely to commit suicide. Burn patients, who are particularly vulnerable, often do not receive adequate post-burn care, and psychological disorders like PTSD are often overlooked in developing nations such as Pakistan. Hence, this study investigated the prevalence of PTSD among adult burn patients in tertiary care hospitals and examined its distribution across different age groups, genders, and socioeconomic classes to highlight its overall burden as well as differences among these groups. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2024 to July 2024, recruiting 275 adult burn patients from tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar, Pakistan, using non-probability convenience sampling. Non-cooperative, unwilling, unconscious, and severe burn injury patients were excluded from the study. Additionally, individuals under the age of 18 years and those whose burn injuries occurred less than a month prior were omitted, as PTSD requires the traumatic event to have happened more than a month ago for diagnosis. All the burn patients were at different stages of recovery. A provisional diagnosis of PTSD was made by using the PTSD checklist for DSM-5, a 20-item checklist that assessed the symptoms of PTSD via a five-point Likert scale. The socioeconomic status was determined via a modified form of the Kuppuswamy Socioeconomic Status Scale. Results The diagnosis of PTSD was made in 52% (143 out of 275) of people who suffered burn injuries. The prevalence of PTSD in males and females was 40% (59 out of 148 males) and 66% (84 out of 127 females), respectively. Sixty-two percent of retirement-aged and 57% of middle-aged patients were mostly affected by PTSD. Similarly, PTSD was more prevalent in lower-class patients, i.e., 69% of patients with burn injuries from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were affected. Conclusion An alarmingly high prevalence of PTSD was found in burn patients. It was more prevalent in females than in males. A greater percentage of retirement-age and middle-aged adults were diagnosed with PTSD. When compared to patients from various socioeconomic backgrounds, burn patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were found to have a higher prevalence of PTSD.