Proportion of psychological stress and associated factors among patients with open tibia fracture treated at Muhimbili Orthopaedics Institute

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Psychological stress is a significant and rapidly increasing public health problem in patients' long-term rehabilitation around the world. There are several reported cases of patients with open tibia fractures whose health outcomes were affected by stress disorder. This indicates that little is known regarding the proportion of psychological stress and associated factors in patients with open fractures of the tibia. Objective: The study intended to determine the proportion of psychological stress and associated factors among patients with open tibia fracture treated at Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute. Methodology and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out at Muhimbili orthopaedic Institute. A simple sampling technique was employed to obtain 386 patients after they have met inclusion and exclusion criteria. A structured questionnaire was utilized as a data collection tool and a short form with 36 questions (SF-36) was used containing questions that examined quality of life that was then interpreted in relation to psychological stress. IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 software was used to describe socio-demographic characteristics and the proportion of psychological stress among patients with open tibia fractures. Multivariate logistic regression was used to obtain an adjusted odd ratio and 95% confidence interval to identify the strength of the association between dependent and independent variables. A variable with p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: A total of 386 patients were enrolled to the study. The mean age was 35.04 ±12.61, 70.7% were in the age group of 18- 38years. The mean BMI was 26.9±4.2, and 62.6% were obese. The majority of the patients were males accounting for 80.8%. The proportion of psychological stress was found to be 66.5%. Conclusion and recommendation: A higher level of psychological stress among patients with open tibia fracture was associated with having a lower level of education self-employment, lower level of income, a period of fewer than three weeks following injury, complications of injury, and poor social support. Then, the study recommends provision of public health education as a coping strategy and conducting routine psychosocial assessments to effectively support the psychological well-being of patients.