Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Associated Factors among Caregivers of Patients with COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: One of psychological disorders caused by catastrophic life events or severe medical problems is the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among people. Different sociodemographic factors have been associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such research is lacking with COVID-19 especially in the Saudi context. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with PTSD during the outbreak of COVID-19. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 92 Saudi citizens, living in Saudi Arabia, and had at least one relative who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Data were collected using the impact of event scale (IES-R). SPSS was used to run a multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The results revealed that participants suffered from a partial PTSD. The regression analysis showed a significant relationship between participants’ characteristics and PTSD. The model explained 13.9% of the variance of PTSD (F [5, 77] = 2.49, R2 =.139, p< .05). Two predictors of gender (p<.01) and level of education (p<.05) were statistically significant to the prediction. Male participants had higher PTSD scores than female participants (beta = -9.19, t = -2.73, p< .01). Also, those caregivers with low level of education had higher PTSD levels (beta = 3.279, t = 2.30, p <.05). Conclusion: The current study demonstrated a strong association between participants’ demographic characteristics (namely gender and level of education) and PTSD. A lack of information and the evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak may be important factors in increasing people’s levels of PTSD. Therefore, future research aiming to find appropriate solutions to such issues is recommended.