Clinical content and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder among combatants of different ages
https://doi.org/10.25016/2541-7487-2017-0-3-110-115
Abstract
Relevance. Specific clinical course and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) related to combat operations make it possible to classify it as a separate form – combat PTSD. Intention. Identify the age-specific effects of combat stress, PTSD and its clinical variants in war veterans. Methods. 161 combatants (mean age 42.9 ± 9.6 years) exposed to various types of fighting stressors during military operations in the territory of Afghanistan and the North Caucasus were examined. The intensity of combat stress was determined by the author’s scale from 0 to 5 points, PTSD – using a questionnaire of traumatic stress by I. O. Kotenev. Results and Discussion. The average PTSD score by Kotenev’s questionnaire was (65.5 ± 1.0). Manifestations or symptoms were mild in 42 (26.1 %), moderate – in 47 (29.2 %), expressed – in 58 (36 %) combatants. For combatants over the age of 60 and in case of considerable duration of the post-war period, former combat stress factors rated higher than in younger people. This could be due to age-related cognitive changes and vivid emotional experience of long-standing events. The intensity of PTSD manifestations in combatants depended on increased age, the duration of the post-war period and the prevailing clinical manifestations. Conclusion. In the treatment of post-stress disorders, it is necessary to establish their main symptoms and age-specific stress-induced pathologies.
About the Author
Mikhail Nikolaevich Torgashov
Ural state medical Academy
Russian Federation
PhD Med. Sci.
Russian Federation
PhD Med. Sci.
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Review
For citations:
Torgashov M.N. Clinical content and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder among combatants of different ages. Medicо-Biological and Socio-Psychological Problems of Safety in Emergency Situations. 2017;(3):110-115. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25016/2541-7487-2017-0-3-110-115
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