PTSD AMONG ISRAELI FORMER PRISONERS OF WAR AND SOLDIERS WITH COMBAT STRESS REACTION - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the long-term impact of war captivity and combat stress reaction on rates of Posttraumatic st ress disorder (PTSD) in Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. M ethods: One hundred sixty-four former prisoners of war (POWs), 112 vet erans who had had combat stress reaction, and 184 combat veteran compa rison subjects filled out the PTSD Inventory, a self-report scale base d on the DSM-III-R criteria for PTSD. The inventory diagnoses past and present PTSD, assesses its intensity, and provides a symptom profile. Results: Thirty-seven percent of the veterans who had had combat stre ss reaction, 23% of the former POWs, and 14% of the comparison subject s had had diagnosable PTSD at some time in the past. The current rates were 13%, 13%, and 3%, respectively. The results showed different rec overy rates over time: almost two-thirds of the veterans with combat s tress reaction who had had PTSD in the past recovered, while less than one-half of the POW group showed this improvement. Conclusions: These findings indicate that small but significant proportions of the POWs and veterans with combat stress reaction were still suffering from PTS D almost two decades after the war. The different recovery rates in th e two groups may reflect the differences in duration and severity of s tressors, the impact of immediate intervention on long-term adjustment , or both.