Original scientific paper
Patients with Combat-related and War-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 10 Years After Diagnosis
Goran Arbanas
orcid.org/0000-0002-2770-0942
; Day Hospital for Psychotherapy General Hospital Karlovac, Karlovac, Croatia
Abstract
Aim To establish how many patients diagnosed with posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) in 1996 used psychiatric
facilities and had psychiatric symptoms 10 years later, and
assess their sociodemographic characteristics, comorbid
disorders, and type of treatment.
Methods Medical records of patients diagnosed with
PTSD in 1996 were reviewed in the period 2007-2009 and
the patients who contacted a psychiatrist in that period
(n = 85) and those who did not (n = 158) were compared.
Results There were 36.7% of men and 20% of women diagnosed
with PTSD in 1996 who contacted a psychiatrist
in the period 2007-2009. Patients who contacted a psychiatrist
and those who did not did not differ in sex, age, the
number of visits and hospitalizations in 1996, and employment
status. The majority of patients still had PTSD and/
or were enduring personality change in the period 2007-
2009, and 54.8% had some comorbidity (mostly depression,
alcohol-related disorders, and personality disorders).
Patients were most often treated with anxiolytics and antidepressants.
Conclusion Ten years after the traumatic experience, one
third of patients with PTSD received psychiatric help, regardless
of their sex, age, and employment status. Half of
them had comorbid disorders and the majority of them
were treated with anxiolytics and antidepressants.
Keywords
PTSD; therapy; service utilization
Hrčak ID:
55656
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2010.
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