Screening for existing anxiety-depressive disorder among internal medicine doctors in the Southern region of Ukraine

Abstract

The aim of our study was to conduct screening studies of posttraumatic stress disorder among interns in the southern region of Ukraine. Materials and methods. The study design was conducted in 2022–2023 among medical interns majoring in general practice and family medicine in Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions. For the survey, we chose the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) to identify the presence of PTSD in the last month. We translated and adapted this questionnaire and developed a Google form. This Google form was offered to PWID so that they could complete the survey in a calm environment. Results. Feelings of irritability, outbursts of anger or aggressive actions over the past month were reported ’sometimes’ by 33.3 % (n = 10) of PWID, while 26.7 % (n = 8) of respondents felt nervous and noted that they were easily frightened (p ≤ 0.05). such a threatening symptom as difficulty falling asleep was reported by 20 % (n = 6) of PWID, and difficulty falling asleep by 46.7 % (n = 14). This cannot but affect the professional activity of PIs, namely, the existing symptoms of PTSD affect the practical and theoretical component of PIs’ work. When calculating according to the methodology of the questionnaire, we found that 12 PIs (40.00 %) out of 30 respondents have PTSD and need to correct this condition (p ≤ 0.05).At the same time, if we look at the regions, 6 PWID in Kherson region had PTSD, 2 in Mykolaiv region and 4 in Odesa region. It should be reminded that in the materials and methods we indicated that 7 PWID lived in Kherson region at the time of the study, i.e. 85.72 % of them had PTSD during the screening. Conclusions. These are interim results and require further observations to provide qualified medical care to interns.