Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and its Risk Factors Among Emergency Care Workers Following Mass Casualty Incidents

Background: Emergency care personnel are at an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder due to their frequent exposure to traumatic events. Objective: To determine the risk factors of post-traumatic stress disorder among emergency care workers following mass casualty incidents. Methodology: A cross-sectional research of emergency care professionals across many departments investigated the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and associated risk factors. Medical personnel, including nurses, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians were selected by stratified random sampling. The depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21, a validated instrument, assessed symptoms, while a comprehensive questionnaire gathered demographic information, work characteristics, and health history, including chronic illnesses and mental medication usage. Logistic regression models in SPSS and R STUDIO revealed significant associations between post-traumatic stress disorder and risk factors, controlling for confounding variables. One-way ANOVA, linear regression, and multiple logistic regression were employed. Results: Chronic disease status, job experience, and shift number were significantly associated with mental health outcomes, with p-values of 0.007, 0.003, and 0.000, respectively. The use of psychotropic medication and its status also influenced mental health scores. The regression analysis revealed that designation and employment experience significantly positively influenced anxiety ratings (B=1.032, p=0.034) and exhibited negative correlations with chronic disease (B=-1.431, p=0.002) and psychotropic drug use (B=-1.406, p=0.000). Key predictors of depression included employment experience (B=0.579, p=0.017) and psychotropic drug use (B=-0.335, p=0.000), with an R² value indicating substantial variance explanation. Conclusion: Long shifts, chronic disease, and extensive working experience were strongly related to higher anxiety and depression in healthcare workers. Psychotropic pharmaceutical use, especially antidepressants and mood stabilisers, increased mental health difficulties, underlining the need for focused mental health treatments for healthcare personnel.