![]() ![]() Research into ex-POWs from the World War II showed that the frequency of PTSD was about 50% at 40 years after imprisonment. Research has shown the persistence of PTSD, even many decades after exposure to war trauma. For instance, in ex-POWs from the Korean War, the prevalence was 88%. Studies dealing with the consequences of imprisonment indicated the high prevalence of PTSD in ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs). In Croatia, there has been no systematic epidemiological research into the prevalence of PTSD in veterans, but research that included more than 3000 veterans of the Homeland War, which took place in the Republic of Croatia from 1991 to 1995, showed that 16.2% of veterans had PTSD, while 25% had partial PTSD. Epidemiological studies have mentioned a lifetime prevalence of PTSD in veterans with combat experience of about 30%. The incidence of PTSD in war veterans varies depending on which veteran population it refers to and ranges widely. This could be due to better post-war care and social support, which ex-POWs received after their release from captivity. The nonimprisoned veteran group was more likely to develop more severe PTSD symptoms and have poorer MHRQoL compared to the group of former prisoners of war (ex-POWs). Furthermore, captivity and socioeconomic status were shown to be important predictors of PTSD and MHRQoL. ![]() The obtained results showed that veterans who had a more positive perception of social support after the events of the war had less intense PTSD symptoms and better MHRQoL. A general regression model analysis was performed to determine whether social support affected patients’ MHRQoL and intensity of the PTSD symptoms. The subjects were evaluated using the questionnaire on self-perceived social support, sociodemographic questionnaire, PTSD self-report checklist (PCL-5) and Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey questionnaire. Among them, 90 subjects had also experienced imprisonment in enemy prison camps (at least 1 month of captivity). The sample comprised 259 Croatian Homeland War veterans diagnosed with PTSD, with at least 6 months of combat experience. This study aims to establish the effect of self-perceived social support on the intensity of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life (MHRQoL) in veterans more than two decades after exposure to trauma in the Homeland War in Croatia, which took place from 1990 to 1995. ![]()
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