Prevalence of Anxiety, Depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Amputees Attending Jaipur Foot Trust Artificial Limb Centre in Kenya

Abstract

Background: Amputees have been noted to present various psychiatric disorders including anxiety, body image disturbances, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, there is limited data available on the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and PTSD among amputees in Kenya despite the high incidences of amputations in Kenyan hospitals. This study aimed at finding out the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among amputees attending the Jaipur Foot Trust Centre in Kenya. Method: This study took a cross-sectional descriptive study design. One hundred and forty-one patients attending the Jaipur Foot Trust were recruited to participate in the study after giving informed consent using a non-probability purposive sampling method. A socio-demographic questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic characteristics. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess the patient's depression. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale was used to assess the patient's anxiety level and The Impact of Event Scale (IES-R) was used to assess the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. Results: Findings from this study showed high rates of psychiatric morbidity where two-thirds of the patients reported PTSD (65%) with more than three-quarters of patients being diagnosed with depression (89.4%) and anxiety (91.5%). Also, there was a significant correlation between depression, anxiety, and PTSD, such that participants who had higher scores on anxiety and depression had significantly higher PTSD scores. Conclusion: Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD are very common psychological reactions in patients who have undergone amputation. The researchers expected that some of the sociodemographic factors and some amputation-related characteristics would have a relation with psychiatric comorbidity. However, the findings of this study did not show any such relationship except the relation between anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Early psychological assessment and interventions after amputations will help alleviate psychological distress.