Post-traumatic stress disorder among family physicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

One hundred and thirty-three (90.5%) of the 147 physicians who were available to be surveyed completed the questionnaire. Of the 88% who had a traumatic experience during the war, 18% met the criteria for PTSD. The likelihood of meeting the criteria for PTSD was not affected by age, sex or whether the physician had worked in a field hospital during the war. However, a positive response to the question "Do you think the traumatic event you experienced during the war still affects you today?" was highly associated with the diagnosis of PTSD (odds ratio 7.26, 95% confidence interval: 1.57-33.60). Also, this question was shown to have a high degree of sensitivity and negative predictive value, and may be of use as a screening tool for ruling out the presence of PTSD after a traumatic war experience.

An Examination of Evidenced-Based Practice Interventions for Public Emergencies

“…For example, researchers have investigated the mental health effects of the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires among a volunteer mental health team providing a disaster response (Berah, Jones, & Valent, 1984) and family physicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Hodgetts, Broers, Godwin, Bowering, & Hasanovic, 2003).…”

Creating a culture of healing in multiethnic communities: an integrative approach to prevention and amelioration of violence‐induced conditions

“…As such, PTSD methodology is neither focused on, nor practical for, helping all the participants in a violent conflict to overcome its calamitous impact. According to various reports, the prevalence of PTSD in BiH is somewhere between 18% (Hodgetts, Broers, Godwin, Bowering, Hasanovic, & 2003) and more than 50% (Hasanovic, Sinanovic, Selimbasic, Pajevic, & Avdibegovic, 2006) among different segments of the society. However, specialized services for PTSD in BiH are lamentably inadequate because of economic and training constraints (Mollica, as cited in Hajdarhodzic, 2001).…”

Religious Moral Beliefs Inversely Related to Trauma Experiences Severity and Presented Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Bosnia and Herzegovina War Veterans

“…In order to achieve an excellent mental healthcare system for psycho-traumatized persons, creating an interdisciplinary team to organize the resources available is fundamental. This is particularly evident during and after crisis times, as we had the opportunity to experience in the last war in BiH (Hodgetts et al 2003;Hasanović et al 2006;Hasanovic and Herenda 2008;Avdibegović et al 2008;Pajevic et al 2010, Delić et al 2014.…”