Full and partial post-traumatic stress disorder among World War II prisoners of war.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
The aim of the study is to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of full and partial post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 66 World War II Nazi prisoners of war, some of whom had been deported to death camps.

METHODS:
The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was used to assess the presence of PTSD and major depression. The Dissociative Experiences Scale and the 58-item version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist were also administered. Partial PTSD was defined as the presence of at least one symptom in each of the clusters defined by DSM-IV.

RESULTS:
Forty-eight percent of the subjects have a partial PTSD, while 20% reported the full syndrome. When compared to subjects with full PTSD, those with partial PTSD showed a significantly lower frequency of comorbid depression and lower levels of psychological distress, as measured by the Symptom Checklist. No differences were found with regards to dissociative symptoms and help-seeking.

CONCLUSIONS:
The problem of definition of PTSD partial syndromes deserves more attention in the literature.Copyright 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Favaro, Angela (A); Tenconi, Elena (E); Colombo, Giovanni (G); Santonastaso, Paolo (P);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Psychopathology (Psychopathology), published in Switzerland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-; vol 39 (issue 4) : pp 187-91

Dates: Created 2006/06/15; Completed 2006/11/01; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16717479, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Combat Disorders - epidemiology; psychology
Comorbidity
Concentration Camps
Depressive Disorder, Major - epidemiology; psychology
Female
Humans

Italy - epidemiology
Male
Prisoners - psychology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Severity of Illness Index
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology; psychology
World War II

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.