Adaptation and Validation of the Questionnaire on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in a Peruvian Population

Introduction: The high prevalence of mental disorders such as stress, in prolonged stressful situations induced by a pandemic, demands their timely identification and assessment;in order to do this, contextualized instruments with adequate metric properties are required. Objective: To validate the Questionnaire on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology in a Peruvian population. Methods: An instrumental study was conducted in the region of Ica, in Peru, from June to November 2021, with 412 adult participants. The process included translation into Spanish, content assessment by judges, and pilot testing. Construct validity was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis;and fit, with confirmatory factor analysis, which included the robust unweighted least squares estimation method. Reliability was evaluated with McDonald's Omega, while the posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology was compared with general variables. Results: The obtained version included 18 items, grouped into four factors that explained 70.78% of the total variance. Also, an acceptable fit was obtained [x2/gl=1.54;NFI and CFI=0.99;SRMR=0.052;RMSEA=0.036 (90% CI: 0.26-0.46)]. The items discriminate satisfactorily, as does the scale according to sex, marital status and those with a family member who died from COVID-19. Internal consistency was adequate for the global scale (ω=0.924) and its dimensions (EDA=0.740;IEAN = 0.882;A=0.786 and CE=0.811). Conclusion: The new Peruvian version of the instrument has acceptable metric properties;therefore, its use is recommended for assessing posttraumatic stress disorder and validation studies. © 2023, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

Factors Associated with Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress in Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to evaluate the factors associated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress in mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted with mothers of children and adolescents living in Brazil, who answered an online questionnaire containing sociodemographic variables and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised. The Poisson regression model with robust variance was used to identify the factors associated with posttraumatic stress. RESULTS: A percentage of 83.82% of mothers reported an overload in caring for their children during the pandemic. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms was 39.05%, and this condition was associated with younger age, living in the northern region of the country, using medications, presenting neuropsychiatric comorbidities and being little/more or less satisfied with life. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: The mental health situation of mothers during and after the pandemic must be monitored, in order to guarantee public policies capable of optimizing the coping with the situation.

Factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in the post-quarantine context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peruvian medical students.

Background: In March 2020, the Peruvian state introduced quarantine as a measure to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2. It has been suggested that being in quarantine is associated with the development of symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The present study aims to explore the factors associated with the development of PTSD in a post-quarantine context due to COVID-19 in medical students. Objectives: To evaluate the factors associated with the development of post-quarantine PTSD symptoms in medical students from a Peruvian university. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study. The objective will be developed after the lifting of the quarantine in Peru. Medical students enrolled during the 2020-01 academic cycle of the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences will be included. To collect the outcome variable (PTSD), the Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) will be used. The associated factors will be collected through a form that will be validated by experts and piloted in the field. The crude and adjusted coefficients will be calculated, using bivariate and multivariate linear regression models, respectively. We will use the "manual forward selection" technique to obtain a final model with minimally sufficient fit. After each model comparison and decision, multicollinearity will be evaluated with the variance inflation factor and matrix of independent variables. Results: Not having health insurance, having relatives or close friends who contracted the disease and having a lower family income are factors associated with PTSD in the post-quarantine context of the COVID-19 pandemic in medical students at a Peruvian university. Conclusions: Clinical evaluation is important for medical students with a high probability of having PTSD symptoms. We recommend conducting a longitudinal study to identify causality and other unstudied factors related to PTSD.