Abstract
Objectives To verify the prevalence of current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in young adults, the occurrence of comorbidities and its association with quality of life. Methods This is a cross-sectional population-based study. The targeted population consisted on individuals aged 18 to 24 years old, who lived in the urban area of Pelotas-RS, Brazil. Cluster sampling was applied. PTSD and its comorbidities were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI 5.0), whereas quality of life was evaluated with the eight domains of the Medical Outcomes Survey Short-form General Health Survey (SF-36). Results A total of 1,762 young adults were selected. The prevalence of PTSD was 2.1% and current episode of depression was the most prevalent comorbidity (71.9%). The individuals with PTSD had lower scores in all domains of quality of life. Conclusion These findings indicate that PTSD is associated with other psychopathologies, especially depression, and it has a substantial impact over quality of life in a sample of young adults.
Highlights
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the mental disorder that is most strongly associated to violence and disaster situations[1]
Current PTSD was significantly associated to all anxiety disorders, it was strongly associated with current depressive episode; suicide risk was identified in 53.1% of these individuals
The great advantage of this study was the evaluation of the occurrence of PTSD amongst young individuals from general population, who did not originate from general and mental health facilities
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the mental disorder that is most strongly associated to violence and disaster situations[1]. A portion of the people who have survived traumatic experiences will develop PTSD symptoms: re-experience of the trauma (intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares), emotional avoidance/numbness (avoidance of memories of the traumatic event) and autonomic hyperstimulation (hypervigilance and sleep disorders)[2]. The occurrence of comorbidities may cover its diagnosis and make it harder to identify the PTSD, since some of the symptoms are commonly presented in other disorders[3]. It may be difficult for people to voluntarily report their traumatic experiences. It is recommended that clinicians investigate all suspect cases – the ones with greater probability of PTSD – which consist on patients with depressive and/or anxiety symptoms and/or with a history of substance use or abuse[4]
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