Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105835

Farnoosh Hashemian, MPH¹, Farahnaz Falahati, MD², Stanislav Kasl, PhD¹, Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD¹, and Steven Southwick, MD³. (1) School of Public Health, Yale University, 60 College Street, PO Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520, 2036763621, farnoosh.hashemian@yale.edu, (2) Chemical Warfare Victims Unit, Organization of Veterans Affair, Tehran, Iran, (3) National Center for PTSD, VA Connecticut Healthcare Systems, West Haven, CT 06516

War and Chemical Attack: Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD among civilians of North-Western Iran

In the Iraq-Iran War, extensive use of chemical weapons caused high mortality, morbidity, and psychological casualties. The study objectives was to estimate prevalence rates of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD; and to examine the association between exposure to CWs and wartime violence and prevalence and severity of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD among civilians of north-western Iran more than 16 years after exposure to chemical attacks and war-related trauma. A total of 153 civilians of north-western Iran were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. The preliminary results shows significantly higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms among survivors of chemical agents than those in non-exposed groups. Among those who experienced chemical attacks 41.2 % reported severe levels of depressive symptoms and 64.7 % reported major anxiety symptoms. Among those who witnessed war violence approximately 12% showed severe depressive symptoms and 13% reported major anxiety symptoms. In the population who were not directly exposed to war the prevalence of severe depressive symptoms was 5.9% and approximately 9% reported major anxiety symptoms. The preliminary results indicate that exposure to chemical weapons among civilians is associated with a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders compared to those exposed to war related violence alone. The results indicate that these effects are long-lasting and suggest the need for long term provision of psychiatric services to these populations.

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