| dc.description.abstract | Introduction:Vicarious traumatization is the negative transformative cumulative effect
on the clinician inner experiences for being exposed to the trauma material presented in
the clinical sessions by the traumatized clients. 1,2 This transformation involves
"significant disruptions in one's sense of meaning, connection, identity, and world view,
as well as in one's affect tolerance, psychological needs, beliefs about self and others,
interpersonal relationships, and sensory memory, including imagery" The helpers‟ sense
of self is disrupted and permanently altered.2
Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence rate of vicarious
traumatization among students of Kenya Medical Training College Nairobi Campus
Site: The study was carried out in Kenya Medical Training College Nairobi Campus
which is a middle level medical college.
Design: This was a cross sectional descriptive study. The study variables included
vicarious trauma as the dependent variable while the independent variables were age,
gender, year of study, religion, duration of clinical experience, type of the training and
vicarious trauma among others. A structured socio-demographic questionnaire and
Trauma Attachment Belief Scale instruments were used to assess for vicarious
traumatization.
Study Population and sampling method: The students of nursing, clinical medicine and
physiotherapy participated in the study. Only the students who had worked in the clinical
area were interviewed. Sample population was 250 participants. Systematic random
sampling was used to identify the participants.
Results: Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and presented at 95% Confidence
Interval. 250 study participants were recruited into the study. 129 (51.6%) were male and
121 (48.4%) were female. The mean age was 24.41 and the standard deviation was
5.841.
5(2.0%) of the participants had mild VT, 75(30.0%) had moderate, while 170(68. %)
had severe. There was a positive correlation between VT and intrusive recollections of
the trauma with a p- value of 0.017, and reliving the trauma (flash backs) with a p- value
of 0.035.
Conclusion:
VT affects those who care for the traumatized persons whether young or old in the
profession of caring. The study demonstrated a high prevalence rate of VT 68% severe,
30%moderate and 2% mild and a correlation of VT and intrusive recollections of the
trauma with a p-0.017 and relieving the trauma(flash backs) with a p-0.035. | en_US |
| dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |
