Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among the inpatients in a tertiary clinic and relationship with suicidal attempts

ObjectiveTo determine traumatic experiences, prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among psychiatric inpatients in a tertiary clinic and the relationship between suicidal attempts.Material and methodsWhile a total of consecutive 175 patients (97 females, 78 males) who were hospitalized in the clinic for a period of six months were being assessed with usual diagnostic processes, they also filled out Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and socio-demographic assessment form.ResultsWhile diagnosis of PTSD was made in 0.017% of the patients when they were evaluated with usual diagnostic methods of the clinic, 63.8% of females and 64.1% of males reported traumatic experiences when they were evaluated through scales. 30.3% of patients met criteria for PTSD according to PDS, and 8% of patients reported subthreshold PTSD symptoms. There was the history of suicidal attempts in 40.2% of females and in 30.8% of males. When evaluated with regression analysis, presence of PTSD according to PDS, physical violence, emotional abuse, exposure to economic abuse and high scores of PDS were found to be predictive factors for suicidal attempt. Three subjects who did not report traumatic experiences at the time of hospitalization reported sexual trauma during outpatient follow up.ConclusionPTSD is common among hospitalized psychiatric patients; diagnosis of PTSD is usually related with suicidal attempt. Diagnosis of PTSD is not recognized in many cases unless investigated especially.