Issue 1/2 Vol. 37 1995

Use of two PTSD scales in assessing posttraumatic stress disorders of refugees and displaced persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia

MARUSIC, A., KOZARIC-KOVACIC, D., FOLNEGOVIC-SMALC, V., LJUBIN, T., ZRNCIC, A. & LJUBIN, S.

Two PTSD scales, Mississippi and Watson's, were used for evaluating the prevalence of PTSD in a sample of 73 refugees and displaced persons accommodated in two refugee camps in Zagreb, Croatia. The prevalence of PTSD in the studied sample was 38.4% according to the Mississippi scale and 37.0% according to the Watson's scale. Seventy-seven percent of the subject had identical positive/negative PTSD evaluation on both scales. There was statistically significant correlation between the intensity of PTSD symptoms measured by the two scales. The result on the Watson's PTSD scale, but not that on the Mississippi scale correlated with the number of survived traumatic events. In the conclusion both PTSD scales demonstrated good psychometric characteristics in a refugee population from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Keywords: PTSD, measurement, refugees, war

Short Title: Marusic, A. et al. (1995) PsyBeit 1-2:209

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