Iranian Journal of War and Public Health

Background: Post traumatic stress disorder is a common psychiatric disorder in war veterans. They have different physical and mental problems due to exposure to variety of traumatic events and stressors and these problems affect their quality of life. The aim of this study is comparing the quality of life in out-patient and in-patient war veterans with post traumatic stress disorder.

Methods and Materials: This study is a Descriptive & Comparative research. 68 post traumatic stress disorder war veterans were evaluated by 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF36).

Results: The results indicated that post traumatic stress disorder war veterans had poorer role functioning due to emotional and physical problems and social functioning. They had better role in physical functioning. There was no significant difference between out-patient and in-patient veterans. There was significant correlation between duration of hospitalization and mental health scale and total mean scores of quality of life according to the SF36.

Conclusion: Post traumatic stress disorder had been associated with a lower quality of life especially in mental, physical and social functioning in war veterans. . There was no significant difference between out-patient and in-patient veterans but duration of hospitalization had significant effect on quality of life in in-patient war veterans.