PTSD and trauma in Austria's elderly: influence of wartime experiences, postwar zone of occupation, and life time traumatization on today's mental health status—an interdisciplinary approach

Abstract

BackgroundWhile in recent years epidemiological studies on World War (WW) II-related traumatization and prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in elderly persons have been conducted for various European countries, for Austria, these numbers are unknown.ObjectiveThe focus of this epidemiologic study was to picture the current mental health status and prevalence of PTSD and lifetime traumatic events in Austria's elderly with respect to WWII and subsequent occupation.MethodIn an interdisciplinary approach of psychologists and historians, 316 elderly Austrians (born before 1946) were interviewed for symptoms of PTSD and lifetime traumatization (Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire, PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version), current mental health (Brief Symptom Inventory), wartime-related trauma, and traumatic experiences with occupational forces. These factors were also compared regarding the zone of occupation (Allied vs. Soviet). Data were collected between March and September 2010.Results97.5% of the sample reported at least one lifetime trauma. War-related traumata were reported by 92.7% and non-war-related traumata by 82.3%; 40.2% experienced traumatic events with occupational forces. PTSD was present in 1.9% of the sample and up to 13.9% taking subthreshold PTSD into account. Both, the presence of symptoms indicative of PTSD and subthreshold PTSD implied weaker current mental health (regarding General Distress: odds ratios up to 25.51; 95% CI = 9.82 to 66.27). Independent of PTSD diagnosis persons from the Soviet occupied zone showed higher levels of Interpersonal Sensitivity, Global Distress, and Phobic Anxiety. Prevalence of PTSD was independent of gender.ConclusionsOur results corroborate findings from other European countries that PTSD is a common disorder in the elderly due to WWII experience and that PTSD and trauma affect mental health even across long periods of time. Postwar distressing conditions also pose a further risk factor for symptomatology and distress in later years.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Polish World War II survivors: the role of social acknowledgement

“…Bramsen & Van Der Ploeg, 1999; Glaesmer et al, 2010; Glück et al, 2012). A similar PTSD rate (38.6%) was reported among a group of individuals undergoing medical treatment in a study of the victims of war in the former Yugoslavia three years after the war (Rosner, Powell, & Butollo, 2003).…”

“…The highest rate (13%) was found among ‘victims of persecution’ (survivors of German concentration camps, subjects of Jewish origin who survived the war in hiding, survivors of Japanese camps). In other studies conducted in Western European countries in the past decade, the rates of PTSD prevalence ranged from 1.9% in Austria (Glück et al, 2012) to 10.9% in one of the studies in Germany (Kuwert et al, 2007)…”

“…Studies primarily concerned with the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been carried out in Austria (Glück, Tran, & Lueger-Schuster, 2012), Finland (Hautamäki & Coleman, 2001), Germany (e.g. Glaesmer, Gunzelmann, Braehler, Forstmeier, & Maercker, 2010; Kuwert, Spitzer, Träder, Freyberger, & Ermann, 2007), the Netherlands (Bramsen & Van Der Ploeg, 1999) and Norway (Major, 2003).…”

Influence of personal and environmental factors on mental health in a sample of Austrian survivors of World War II with regard to PTSD: is it resilience?

“…Occupation by Western Allied and Soviet troops lasted from 1945 to 1955. In a sample of civil survivors of WWII [40], now 65+ years old, who experienced various kinds of trauma during their wartime-childhood and adolescence, over 92% reported experiences of war-related traumata or traumatic experiences with the occupational forces (termed generically WRTs in the following), and over 97% reported at least one lifetime-trauma. Prevalence of PTSD was 1.9% in this sample, but this rate increased to 14% taking into account sub-threshold PTSD.…”

Advances in European Psychotraumatology

“…The life span is covered with study populations ranging from children (e.g. Wittman et al, 2012) to the elderly (Glück, et al, 2012). Designs differ from large epidemiological studies (e.g.…”