Association of post-traumatic stress disorder and work performance: A survey from an emergency medical service, Karachi, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to explore the association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and work performance of emergency medical services personnel in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS Emergency medical service personnel were screened for potential PTSD using Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Work performance was assessed on the basis of five variables: number of late arrivals to work, number of days absent, number of days sick, adherence to protocol, and patient satisfaction over a period of 3 months. In order to model outcomes like the number of late arrivals to work, days absent and days late, negative binomial regression was applied, whereas logistic regression was applied for adherence to protocol and linear for patient satisfaction scores. RESULTS Mean scores of PTSD were 24.0±12.2. No association was found between PTSD and work performance measures: number of late arrivals to work (RRadj 0.99; 0.98-1.00), days absent (RRadj 0.98; 0.96-0.99), days sick (RRadj 0.99; 0.98-1.00), adherence to protocol (ORadj 1.01; 0.99-1.04) and patient satisfaction (β 0.001%-0.03%) after adjusting for years of formal schooling, living status, coping mechanism, social support, working hours, years of experience and anxiety or depression. CONCLUSION No statistically significant association was found between PTSD and work performance amongst EMS personnel in Karachi, Pakistan.