Assessment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) among Saudi Mothers Having a Child Newly Diagnosed with Cancer

Abstract

Background: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder strike people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. Parents' of children with cancer are at risk of PTSD. The aim of the study is to assess the posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among Saudi mothers who have a child newly diagnosed with cancer. Methodology: A descriptive exploratory design was used with a convenient sample of 110 Saudi mothers. Mothers were recruited from pediatric oncology (Ward 11) at King Khalid National Guard Hospital (KKNGH), Jeddah. Mothers completed a questionnaire of self-report PTSD Checklist (PCL-C) The PTSD severity was determined by totaling the 20 PDS-5 as the higher the score the more the severity of PTSD. Results: the results revealed that the mean age of children and mothers was (4.43±SD3.6) and (37.6±SD9.3) respectively. More than half(57.2%) of mothers experienced with shock at the time of diagnosis. More than one-third (32.7%) meet the criteria of PTSD and severity of symptoms ranged from mild to very severe as (44.5%) have mild symptoms (14.5%), moderate (17.3%) severe compared by (6.4) experienced very severe symptoms of PTSD. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the severity of PTSD with the number of children, the age of parents, gender, literacy and economic state (P = 0.001). Conclusion and recommendation: the study concluded the presence of PTSD symptoms among participants of the current study. Additionally, factors such as age, sex, the number of children, educational state and economic state of the family can influence the severity of PTSD. Therefore, health professionals might screen the parents of children with chronic illnesses to ascertain whether they could benefit from stress management. By the same token, clinicians should recognize that most parents tend to cope well through reinforcing their adaptive coping skills.