Prevalence of PTSD symptoms in combat veterans seeking medical treatment

Abstract

AbstractResults from recent research point to the need to screen and assess for PTSD in medical as well as psychiatric patients, and to broaden the scope of assessment to include combat veterans of other recent wars, e.g., World War II and Korea. The present study was designed to obtain the following information: (1) the degree to which PTSD symptomatology is present in veterans who are inpatients on medical units, (2) the respective rates of PTSD symptoms and psychological distress of combat veterans from WW‐II, Korea, and Vietnam, and (3) the extent and nature of psychological disturbance, as measured by the paper and pencil tests, across the three military time periods. One hundred and sixty‐one nonpsychiatric combat and former POW veteran patients served as subjects, with 70.2% having served in World War II, 13.1% having served in Korea, and 16.8% having served in Vietnam. All subjects completed a questionnaire packet which included a demographic data sheet, the Mississippi Scale for Combat‐related PTSD, the Sympton Checklist‐90‐Revised, and the Combat Exposure Scale. Results of the study showed a 24% overall PTSD rate, as determined by subjects' scores on the Mississippi scale. While no differences in combat exposure were found among three war groups, psychiatric disturbance was most apparent among Vietnam veterans. A combination of demographic and psychological factors was found to accurately predict PTSD status. These findings suggest te need to screen and assess all combat veterans who present on medical as well as psychiatric units.