NIJAMSS peer-reviewed article

Item-Level Trauma Symptom Patterns among Women Receiving Postabortion Care at Nakuru Level Five Referral Hospital, Kenya

Daniel A. Otwori; Eunice K. Mitheu

Abstract: Background: Aggregate trauma symptom scores can obscure which experiences respondents reported. Objective: This paper proposes a post hoc, item-level descriptive objective using Mitheu's 2020 thesis; it was not an original thesis objective. Methods: Frequency counts in the thesis intrusion, avoidance and arousal tables for 192 postabortion-care patients were audited. Fifteen of 17 items had five response counts summing to 192 and were retained. Endorsement was defined in the thesis as occasionally, often or very often. Wilson 95% intervals describe each item proportion. No item-level joint data were available. Results: The three auditable intrusion items had endorsement proportions of 67.2%-74.5%; seven avoidance items, 68.8%-77.6%; and five arousal items, 69.3%-76.6%. Avoidance of related thoughts and of reminders each had 149 of 192 (77.6%) endorsements. Persistent guilt was 147 of 192 (76.6%). Two other intrusion rows had inconsistent totals or percentages and were excluded pending data verification. Conclusion: A broad range of symptom items was commonly endorsed in this referral sample. These frequencies do not establish PTSD diagnoses, a causal effect of an abortion, or relative domain burden. Private, voluntary discussion and referral may be appropriate when patients report distress.

Keywords: Item response; Maternal health; Postabortion care; Screening; Trauma symptoms

Journal

Nexus International Journal of Applied Science, Medicine and Social Sciences

e-ISSN

3144-2196

Publication date

August 2026

Volume / Issue

Vol. 1, Issue 2

Paper number

037

Article type

Original Research

Published paper ID

NIJAMSS-V1S2-AUG2026-037

Publisher

Nexus Academic Press

Access

Open Access

Full text PDF: https://www.nijamss.org/archives-download/nijamss-vol-1-series-2-august-2026-paper-037.pdf