Improvement in quality of life after exposure therapy, problem solving and combined therapy in chronic war-related post traumatic stress disorder

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the one of the most commonly observed psychiatric disorder in veterans. The condition can lead to considerable social, occupational, and interpersonal dysfunction. PTSD occurring after combat injury appears to be strongly correlated with the extent of injury, and develops over several months. Studies have indicated that behavioral and cognitive-behavioral treatments are effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD and depression. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of problem solving in improving Quality of life of 60 Iranian veterans after Iran- Iraq war. After learning sessions and implementing the interventions, patients were evaluated by SF-36 Questionnaire during post-intervention and follow-up measurements. Post-test and follow-up scores were 50 ± 4.4 and 56.1 ± 3.8 in problem solving. Comparing to control group without any treatment, all intervention groups showed significant improvement in quality of life.