May 2004
Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are common in the aftermath of war. A new study has found that depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have continued to cause problems for at least three years after the 1999 NATO campaign in Serbia. Almost half of those questioned had symptoms of depression and more than one in eight had symptoms of PTSD.
The study teamed American researchers with doctors from a university hospital in Belgrade and a hospital in a Serbian enclave in Laplje Selo, Kosovo to assess the mental state of patients visiting their accident and emergency departments. Over 500 patients completed a questionnaire about their exposure to traumatic events and their experience of a variety of symptoms of depression or PTSD.
Symptoms were not uniformly distributed in the population.:
- Older patients, those with lower levels of social support, and patients who were unemployed were more likely to have symptoms of depression.
- People who had been a refugee longer than 30 days and those living in remote areas were more likely to have symptoms of PTSD.
- Many of the subjects in this study had features of both disorders.
The results suggest that Serbian residents of Laplje Selo are at especially high risk of suffering from a mental disorder. The researchers concluded that “despite the general improvement of conditions in the region, the Serb minority continues to lack freedom of movement and access to basic services including access to health care.” They recommend better screening for mental health problems in emergency rooms, especially in areas that have been affected by war.
Reference: War-related psychological sequelae among emergency department patients in the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Brett D Nelson, William G Fernandez, Sandro Galea, Sarah Sisco, Kerry Dierberg, Gordana Subaric Gorgieva, Arijit K Nandi, Jennifer Ahern, Mihajlo Mitrovic, Michael VanRooyen, David Vlahov. BMC Medicine 2004, 2:23
Last updated 11/5/05
