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Coll. Antropol. 35 (2011) Suppl. 1: 281–286 Short communication
Quality of Life in Families of Croatian Veterans 15 Years after the War Ana Zdjelarevi}1, Zoran Komar2, Mladen Lon~ar2, Ivana Dijani} Pla{}4, Pero Hraba~3, Ivana Groznica5 and Darko Mar~inko6 1 2 3 4 5 6
University of Zagreb, Studium Croaticum, Zagreb, Croatia Ministry of Family, Veterans’ Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity, Zagreb, Croatia University of Zagreb, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, Zagreb, Croatia The home for adult and child victims of family violence »Duga – Zagreb«, Zagreb, Croatia »J. J. Strossmayer« University, Osijek University Hospital Center, Osijek, Croatia University of Zagreb, Zagreb University Hospital Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Zagreb, Croatia
ABSTRACT Exposure to war trauma with its consequences such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disability due to combat injuries poses a significant problem for modern Croatian society. However, this is also a public health problem requiring continuous study of effective treatment strategies to achieve an increase in quality of life of most war-affected groups. Aim of this study was to examine the quality of life of population most affected by war – families of Croatian veterans. Present study included 126 female participants, who agreed to complete physical and psychiatric examination organized by the Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity. Included were participants with status of either wife of war veteran suffering from PTSD, wife who lost her husband in war circumstances or wife of war veteran with physical disabilities resulting from war activities. All three groups were asked to fill out the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire – short form (WHOQOL-BREF). Results indicate that assumed intensity of secondary trauma is not associated with quality of life. Namely, the highest level of satisfaction was found in wives of the most seriously affected invalids of war (M=3.77; sd=0.741), folowed by the wives of deceased soldiers (M=3.5; sd= 0.697), while the lowest quality of life results were found in wives of veterans suffering from PTSD (M=3.12; sd=0.608). Our results confirm that, nearly 15 years after the war, wives of disabled or killed Croatian soldiers have a (comparatively) satisfactory quality of their everyday lives, compared to the wives of veterans suffering from PTSD. Key words: quality of life, wives of Croatian veterans, war invalid, patients with PTSD, war widows
Introduction According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, quality of life is defined as the individual’s own perception of reality of life in light of cultural and value systems in which one lives, taking into account expectations, personal goals and standards1. Obviously, people who live in different cultures or belong to different generations have different notions of quality of life. Recently, quality of life has been a much discussed topic in Croatian society. There are at least two reasons for this; first and foremost the Homeland War and second, the transition period to a different social system. The first reason mentioned is of particular interest since the experienced war trauma and diseases such as post traumatic
stress disorder, sudden and violent loss of close and loved ones and disability due to combat injuries pose a significant problem for society as a whole, but also a public health problem. This is why it requires continuous study of effective treatment strategies as well as effort to improve quality of life of most war-affected groups2–4. From war conditions experienced by a significant proportion of Croatian population, a number of social and physical traumas can evolve. These include death of close persons, loss of property, loss of existing social network, physical pain, and aggregation of their negative impacts. This in return severely influences the health of people af-
Received for publication April 20, 2010
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A. Zdjelarevi} et al.: Quality of Life in Families of Croatian Veterans, Coll. Antropol. 35 (2011) Suppl. 1: 281–286
fected and consequently lowers their quality of life. Studies show that between one third and a half of all war-affected persons suffer from psychological problems5. Most people reported psychological symptoms like post traumatic stress disorder or depressive and/or anxiety disorders5. Additionally, it was recently documented that the traumatic death of a spouse, a relatively common event during war time, is associated with much higher levels of psychological disturbance than other types of death. According to the Ministry of Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity, there are 4011 widows of deceased soldiers from the war in Croatia, whereas 6621 children lost one or both parents6. Furthermore, in almost 30% of such families, a phenomenon of so-called »secondary traumatization« was described, following the primary trauma of losing husband or father6. The difficulties facing families of traumatized returnees arise mainly from their inability to experience positive emotions, especially those related to intimacy as well as from difficulties in communication. As a result, family members often carry the burden of veteran’s guilt, anxiety and alienation. This is the reason why families of war veterans are often referred to as »hidden victims« of trauma, and too often do not get even minimal assistance from experts. In this situation, the wives of veterans are in most cases the ones trying to preserve previous balance of their familes. The results of some studies have shown that wives of veterans suffering from PTSD were significantly more depressed and anxious, more often show symptoms of indirect trauma and more often suffer from pain syndromes in which treatment with conventional drug therapy does not show results, compared with the wives of veterans without PTSD7. Besides PTSD, various degrees of phisical disabilty is commonly seen in war veterans, while the burden of missing parent plays a major role in families in which one or more family members lost their lives during the war. In both cases, i.e. when family members are either dead or disabled, experts point to two possible adjustment scenarios. The first is family recovering after a painful experience, continuing its normal function, fully adapting to the new circumstances. However, some families never recover with the atmosphere of chronic sadness remaining present for years9. In this light, the aim of this study was to examine quality of life of groups most affected by war – families of Croatian war veterans. Rather than having a hypothesis of the study’s outcome, we decided to do a cross-sectional »snapshot« of current situation and use it as a starting point for the future studies. Special emphasis was placed on quality of life of spouses of deceased soldiers, wives of the most serious of war invalids and wives of veterans who suffer from PTSD, as well as to examining differences between these groups in self-assessed quality of life.
Subjects and Methods Present study included 126 female participants, who agreed to undergo both physical and psychiatric exami282
nation organized by the Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity. Included were participants with status of either wife of war veteran suffering from PTSD, wife who lost her husband in war circumstances or wife of war veteran with physical disabilities resulting from war activities. Further inclusion criterion was written informed consent, provided by each subject prior to inclusion in the study. Data were collected using a structured clinical interview which also included socio-demographic data such as age, educational, marital and employment status of the participant as well as number of children and household income. All three groups were asked to fill out the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire – short form (WHOQOL-BREF)10.
Statistics Several statistical analyses were performed. Standard statistical methods were used to calculate descriptive parameters (mean±SD). Statistical significance of between-group differences was tested by ANOVA and the appropriate post-hoc test (Scheffe test). Significance level was set at p
