The Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in People who Experienced Imposed War by Iraq on Iran in Ilam in 2016: Cross-Sectional Study

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent disorder in people with war experience, leaving them susceptible to secondary mental disorders. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of PTSD symptoms in people with war experience from the imposed war by Iraq on Iran in Ilam province. In this cross-sectional study, 711 people with war experience who were aged over 35 years were enrolled, in Ilam province in 2016. Random cluster sampling was used as a sampling method. Persian version of Checklist – Military Version (PCL-M) was used to evaluate PTSD in participants. Data were analyzed with using SPSS 19th edition. The prevalence of PTSD symptoms was 15‒39 % in the study population. A significant relationship was observed between PTSD and age at the war, life‐threatening, and seeing relatives injured (p<0.001). There was not a significant relationship between PTSD and the experience of aerial bombardment, gender and the job of participants (p>0.05). PTSD prevalence in this study was higher compared to studies in the general population. We suggest interventional programs to reduce this rate in people with war experience