Browsing by Author "Sefatsa, Mpho Joyce"
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- ItemThe prevalence of traumatic events, posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic stress symptoms among people seeking HIV testing(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Sefatsa, Mpho Joyce; Kagee, Ashraf; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: No previous studies have investigated the prevalence of traumatic events, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and PTSD symptoms in HIV test seekers, and very few published studies in South Africa have used a structured clinical interview to measure these constructs. Despite there being a high prevalence of PTSD associated with persons living with HIV, little is known about the occurrence of the disorder amongst people seeking HIV testing. This study undertook a cross-sectional approach amongst individuals who enrolled for an HIV test at several testing centres in the Cape Town region. PTSD was assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM (SCID) which was administered by trained researchers. In addition, a PTSD self-report scale was administered to the participants (PTSD Symptom Scale Self-Report version [PSS-SR]). Overall, the prevalence of traumatic events was 62.6%. Of the 493 participants, only 4.4% of the total sample fulfilled current for PTSD. The majority of the participants (60.5%) reported mild to moderate symptom severity. The first aim of this study was to determine prevalence rate of traumatic events and PTSD among people seeking HIV testing. The second aim was to determine PTSD symptoms in the same sample of people seeking an HIV test. The third aim was to determine the optimal cut-off scores on the PTSD Symptom Scale using the SCID as the gold standard, using a Receiver Operator Characteristic curve (ROC) analysis The PSS-SR demonstrated excellent sensitivity and specificity in identifying SCID defined PTSD (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve, 0.86). This finding suggests that the PSS-SR is robust measure for assessing PTSD caseness. The current study’s findings suggest that exposure to traumatic events does not necessarily lead to a diagnosis of PTSD but may make individuals susceptible to PTSD symptoms.