Elderly veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder in specialty care.
Elderly veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder in specialty care.
复制标题
患有与战斗相关的创伤后应激障碍的老年退伍军人接受特殊护理。
DOI：
10.1097/01.nmd.0000115755.96539.ce
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发表时间：
2004
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Mintzer,Jacobo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Frueh,BChristopher;Elhai,JonD;Hamner,MarkB;Magruder,KathrynM;Sauvageot,JulieA;Mintzer,Jacobo
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prevalent among combat veterans and is associated with significant psychiatric and medical comorbidity, social impairment, and reduced quality of life (Kulka et al., 1990). Furthermore, PTSD is often chronic, and many veterans still suffer severe symptoms from wars fought 30 or 50 years ago (Gold et al., 2000). However, the literature on PTSD among elderly people is underdeveloped, and little is known about the clinical manifestation, course of illness, treatment response, and changes in medical and mental health service needs among elderly people with PTSD (Cook, 2001). Because of the general association between PTSD symptoms and medical service use, the association of these factors among elderly persons is an issue of great relevance. Evidence indicates that the societal costs associated with PTSD are extremely high, and studies within the US Veterans Affairs (VA) system indicate that among both elderly and nonelderly people, PTSD symptoms are highly associated with greater medical comorbidity and use of medical services (Schnurr and Spiro, 1999). The VA system provides an opportunity to study PTSD among the elderly, because the average age of its patients is now approximately 60 years (Hankin et al., 1999). This naturalistic archival records study was designed to examine the clinical features and use of medical and mental health services among elderly veterans with PTSD.
