Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among firefighters of Isfahan

Firefighters are exposed to different chemical and physical hazards and experience a significant number of accidents and injuries. Therefore, they are known as a high-risk group for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among firefighters in Isfahan city.
Subjects were 261 male firefighters of Isfahan city (mean age: 37.5±6.98 years). In this study, three standard self-report scales including Post trauma Symptoms Scale (PTSS-10), Impact of Event Scale (IES-15) and DSM-IV criteria were used. The data were analyzed by SPSS (ver. 20) using Pearson’s correlation test, chi-square test, t-test and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
The mean (± SD) score of Impact of Event Scale, Post trauma Symptoms Scale and DSM-IV was criteria 32.86 ± 14.46, 3.3 ± 3.18 and 6.8 ± 4.0, respectively. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the three scales of DSM-IV, Impact of Event Scale and Post trauma Symptoms Scale was 0.83, 0.843 and 0.916, respectively. Results showed that mean scores of IES had a significant relationship with age (P=0.001) and work experience (P=0.001). Also a mean score of PTSS had a significant relationship with age (P=0.03) and work experience (P=0.01).
IES-15, PTSS-10 and DSM-IV can be useful tools to assess the prevalence of PTSD and the Persian version of these scales was valid and reliable. Based on the results, the probability of PTSD among firefighters was high, that can negatively affect on their habits, attitudes, interests and lifestyles. Therefore, it is necessary to take preventive and treatment measures of PTSD should be proposed and implemented.