Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Family Medicine Units from Six Cities in the Mexico-United States Border

Abstract

determine the prevalence of the post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) in Family Medicine Units (umf) of six border cities of the North of the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Material and methods: descriptive and cross-sectional study. A not randomized sample by quota. The study was carried out between January and December 2009. 300 patients were included of the 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 33, 36, 40 and 79 Family Medicine Units of the Mexican Institute of Social Security in the cities of Matamoros, Reynosa, Miguel Alemán, Diaz Ordaz, Rio Bravo and Camargo of the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. 53.7% patients were female and 46.3% were male. The study included people of both genders and adults who had at least one year of residence in the border area of the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Results: 49.68% women and 50.36% men had ptsd. The most common stress-producing factors in this area were: natural disasters, violent or sudden death death of a close family and family violence. Conclusions: the ptsd was more frequent in women and the most common factors were theft and rape and/or sexual abuse. The results of this study show that conditions of security and life in general in patients who belong to this group of the umf differ with those of the rest of Mexico; where it has been identified that from 1% to 5% of the population has been exposed to ptsd in contrast with more than 49% identified in this research.