Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan 8:11:1302694.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1302694. eCollection 2023.

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder risk post-COVID-19 in 12 countries in Latin America: a cross-sectional survey

Christian R Mejia  1 , Víctor Serna-Alarcón  2   3 , Martín A Vilela-Estrada  2   3 , Jose Armada  4 , Milward Ubillus  1 , Jose Beraún-Barrantes  1 , Aldo Álvarez-Risco  5 , Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales  6 , Neal M Davies  7   8 , Jaime A Yáñez  9
Affiliations

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder risk post-COVID-19 in 12 countries in Latin America: a cross-sectional survey

Christian R Mejia et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Latin America was the region most affected by COVID-19 in the second quarter of 2020, and consequently, the impact on mental health requires evaluation. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by bereavement due to COVID-19 in 12 countries in Latin America.

Methods: The current study was an analytical cross-sectional study. Validated tests were applied for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), questions about the respondent's condition or their environment, and demographic questions, as well as the length of the mourning period of suffering.

Results: The outcomes demonstrated that the PTSD risk increased for women (p < 0.001), when a friend or acquaintance had COVID-19 (p = 0.002), when a close relative died from COVID-19 (p = 0.010), having severe depression (p <0.001), severe anxiety (p <0.001), severe stress (p <0.001), residing in Chile (p <0.001), Paraguay (p <0.001), Bolivia (p <0.001), Costa Rica (p <0.001) or El Salvador (p = 0.005). On the other hand, there was less risk of PTSD at an older age (p <0.001) or if respondents had a sentimental partner (p = 0.025). In the case of severe PTSD, there was a greater gender risk for women (p <0.001), a close relative dying from COVID-19 (p = 0.017), having severe depression (p <0.001), severe anxiety (p <0.001), severe stress (p <0.001), residing in Chile (p <0.001), Paraguay (p <0.001), Bolivia (p <0.001) and Costa Rica (p = 0.002). It was also observed that there was less risk of severe PTSD at an older age demographic (p <0.001).

Discussion: It can be concluded that the percentages of PTSD are high in its clinical presentation as severe, especially among Latin American women.

Keywords: COVID-19; Latin America; PTSD; Peru; mental health; post-traumatic stress disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Severe anxiety, severe stress, severe depression, PTSD, and severe PTSD in 12 Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO . (2022). "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)." Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1 (Accessed Nov 11, 2023).
    1. Humphries MO. Paths of infection: the first world war and the origins of the 1918 influenza pandemic. War Hist. (2014) 21:55–81. doi: 10.1177/0968344513504525 - DOI
    1. Chan JF-W, Yuan S, Kok K-H, Kelvin Kai-Wang To. Chu H, Yang J, et al. . A familial cluster of pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus indicating person-to-person transmission: a study of a family cluster. Lancet. (2020) 395:514–23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30154-9, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Petzold MB, Bendau A, Plag J, Pyrkosch L, Maricic LM, Betzler F, et al. . Risk, resilience, psychological distress, and anxiety at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Brain Behav. (2020) 10:e01745. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1745, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alifano M, Attanasi G, Iannelli F, Cherikh F, Iannelli A. COVID-19 pandemic: a European perspective on health economic policies. J Behav Econ Pol. (2020) 4:35–43.