War Trauma in a Civilian Population

BACKGROUND: An epidemiological survey was made of war trauma and its consequences in the general population. METHOD: One member aged over 15 years from each of 101 randomly selected families in a Primary Health Area in Sri Lanka were interviewed using the Stress Impact Questionnaire. RESULTS: Nearly one-half had experienced between five and nine war stresses, and one-quarter experienced over 10 (mean 6.66). Only 6% had not experienced any. Sixty-four per cent had developed psychosocial sequelae, including somatisation (41%), post-traumatic stress disorder (27%), anxiety disorder (26%), major depression (25%), hostility (19%), relationship problems (13%), alcohol and drug misuse (15%) and functional disability (18%). CONCLUSION: The trauma experienced correlated strongly with psychosocial and somatic symptoms.