Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Resident Physicians

Abstract

Background Research suggests that symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be common in physicians who have experienced a traumatic event, but it is unclear if medical residents suffer from similar symptoms. Objective To determine the prevalence of PTSD symptoms in the resident physician population of the University of British Columbia based on the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5) criteria. Method A link to an online questionnaire containing 27 questions, including residency training and year, as well as the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition (PCL-5) was e-mailed and completed by the resident physicians of the University of British Columbia. Results Forty-three residents completed the survey and 38 had complete data. Mean PCL-5 score was 10.3 for the 38 subjects. Differences between PCL-5 score and resident year yielded the following: postgraduate year (PGY)-1=8.6; PGY-2=16.5; PGY-3=3.6; PGY-4=4.0; PGY-5=7.7. With respect to the type of traumatic event and PCL-5 score, the following was observed: Death=5.3, Violence=13.8, Medical Error=8.0, Bullying=38.0, None=45.0. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed no statistically significant differences in total PCL-5 score for PGY or type of traumatic event. Regardless of post-graduate year or trauma experience, four subjects out of 38 (10.5%) had a total PCL-5 score of 33 or greater, while one subject (2.5%) had a score greater than 50. Conclusion The results from this study conclude that resident physicians do suffer from PTSD symptoms at a rate higher than the average American population. As PTSD symptoms can often be very distressing and potentially affect work ethic negatively, further studies are indicated to better understand these symptoms and hopefully lead to better care in treating PTSD symptoms in resident physicians.