Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Civilian Volunteers and Military Soldiers in War against ISIS from Basra City

Background: Violence and aggression rates have been high in Iraq, where people have been subjected to many traumatic events for the past decades [acts of terrorism, explosions, kidnapping, systematized violence, and aggression], and for the past three years (with the advent of ISIS), all that has made them susceptible to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), especially in case of people experiencing trauma at the frontlines (soldiers and civilian volunteers). Objective: To determine the prevalence of PTSD among civilian volunteers (CV) and military soldiers (MS) participating in the war against ISIS. Patients and Methods: a cross sectional study done in two major hospital in Basra city, with a sample of 200 subject, 100 from military soldiers and 100 from civilian volunteers. The candidates subjected first to GHQ, then to a special questionnaire for PTSD. P value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of PTSD was found to be 21% and 47% among CV and MS respectively. Conclusion: PTSD prevalence is higher among military soldiers than among civilian volunteers. Keywords: PTSD, civilian volunteers, military soldiers, religious belief.