PTSS in COVID-19 survivors peritraumatic stress symptoms among COVID-19 survivors in Iraq

Parzheen J Mohammad; Dyari S Hama Amin; Pshtiwan F Mohammed; Hawkar A Hussein; Omiad S Abdullah

doi:10.1007/s12144-023-04291-z

PTSS in COVID-19 survivors peritraumatic stress symptoms among COVID-19 survivors in Iraq

Curr Psychol. 2023 Feb 9:1-10. doi: 10.1007/s12144-023-04291-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Parzheen J Mohammad¹, Dyari S Hama Amin², Pshtiwan F Mohammed³, Hawkar A Hussein⁴, Omiad S Abdullah⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Education and Language, Department of Special Education, Charmo University, Chemchemal, Kurdistan Region Iraq.
² SEED foundation, Sulaimani Center, New chwarchra main road, house A1-352, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region Iraq.
³ Directory of International Relations, Charmo University, Chemchemal, Kurdistan Region Iraq.
⁴ Directory of Health/Chamchamal, Shahid Peshraw Outpatient Clinic, Chemchemal, Kurdistan Region Iraq.
⁵ College of Administration and Economics, Statistics Department, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region Iraq.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic became a source of psychological distress worldwide. People infected with the disease faced the possibility of losing their lives, and due to the high number of people with the disease, hospitals were overburdened. Therefore, the situation had characteristics of a traumatic event; this is especially true in Iraq since the healthcare system is on the brink of failure, and the hospitals are a place of low-quality service. Consequently, the current study aims to explore peritraumatic stress symptoms among survivors of COVID-19 in Iraq. Moreover, group differences based on several variables and the associated factors with peritraumatic stress are also investigated. The post-traumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 was used as a measurement tool. A total of 370 survivors of COVID-19 from the different governorates of Iraq participated in this study; 148 females and 22 males. 51, 70, 165, and 84 participants were aged 18-25, 26-30, 31-40, and above 40, respectively. The results revealed that 31.1% of the participants had probable PTSD since they scored above the cut-off of the score of 23. Significant differences between males and females were not found. Regarding associated factors, education level was a significant predictor (i.e., no education, primary school, secondary school, diploma, bachelor's degree, and postgraduate degree). Compared to primary school education and no education, postgraduate education was significantly associated with probable PTSD. Furthermore, the longer duration of being infected with COVID-19 was associated with higher odds of having probable PTSD. This was one of the first studies in Iraq to explore peritraumatic stress symptoms following COVID-19 infection using standardized instruments and investigate the associated factors. The results have various implications for developing the healthcare system of Iraq and the need to have social workers and psychologists trained in psychological first aid available in the hospital to manage the patients' distress.

Keywords: COVID-19; Iraq; PTSS; Pandemic; Trauma.

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.