1258 – Quality of life of war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder in bosnia-herzegovina

Abstract

AimTo analyze the quality of life (QoL) of war veterans in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to analyze the interrelationship of certain segments of the quality of life and intensity of symptoms of PTSD and to analyze the interrelation of individual segments of the quality of life and overall functionality of the war veterans with PTSD.MethodThe paper analyzed the 60 war veterans who were treated at the Department for Psychiatry Tuzla, in the period March-August, 2007, and who were diagnosed with PTSD. The control group comprised of the 60 war veterans employed as active military personnel in the Army of BH, who were not on the screening test showed that they have PTSD and who were not psychiatric treated. QoL was assessed with standardized scale The Manchester brief assessment of the QoL, and the level of severity of PTSD symptoms and the presence of PTSD at the time of the interview was assessed with Harvard trauma questionnaire, combined versions for Bosnia and Herzegovina and for Croatia.ResultsThe results of this survey indicate that the war veterans with PTSD had significantly worse QoL across all domains, as measured in almost total in relation to veterans who do not have PTSD. All individual symptoms and clusters of PTSD symptoms were negatively correlated with self-assessment of all segments of the QoL of war veterans.ConclusionsThe war veterans in post-war BH with PTSD had significantly worse QoL across all domains, related to veterans without PTSD.