Investigation of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms in stroke patients with physical dependency, perception of coping with trauma and perceived social support

When the literature on psychosocial and psychiatric conditions caused by stroke is examined, it is seen that although studies focus on depression, sudden clinical manifestations such as stroke cause post-traumatic stress disorder. In this study, the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in individuals who had a stroke; sociodemographic and medical data, level of physical dependency, perception of coping with trauma and its relationship with perceived social support factors were examined. The study was carried out on stroke patients (n=218) who applied for diagnosis and treatment at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital in Ankara. The research was designed in a descriptive and relationship-seeking type. Measurement tools used in the research; Sociodemographic and Medical Characteristics Data Form, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Short Scale, Modified Barthel Index, Perception of Coping with Trauma Scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The relationship between the scores obtained from the scales, age and time after stroke variables were examined with the Pearson Rank Correlation Coefficient. The predictors of the scores of all the scales used in the study and the variables of age, gender, time elapsed after stroke and needing psychological support on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Short Scale were evaluated with Multiple Regression Analysis. According to the results of the study, 63.3% of the patients who had a stroke scored above the cut-off point on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Short Scale. According to the results of the regression analysis, the family sub-factor in multidimensional perceived social support, the trauma sub-factor in the perception of coping with trauma, the variables of gender and need for psychological support; explains 46.8% of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. It is recommended to screen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder in stroke cases and to consider risky groups.