Epidemiologic Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Traffic Accident Victims in Tehran

Background and Objectives: Road accidents are a major public health problem and one of the leading causes of death in the world. Some survivors of traffic accidents experience acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder during weeks to months following the accident. These disorders can have disastrous effects on victims and their inability to return to normal living conditions.   Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder checklist (PCL5) was used to assess acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The sample size was 384 people and the data were collected one week and two months after the trauma in the orthopedic, emergency and inpatient wards of Taleghani, Shohadaye Tajrish and Haftom Tir hospitals. This study was conducted between October and January 2016.   Results: This study was conducted on 350 participants. About 49% of the participants (n = 172) met the diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder and 40.6% (n = 142) met the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. There was a relationship between demographic variables of age and death of a close family or friend and the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder.   Conclusion: According to the results, about half of the participants had acute stress disorder and met the diagnostic criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder. This result highlights the high prevalence of this disorder in traffic accident victims and the importance of its follow-up and control.