Combat Exposure, Coping Strategies, and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Second Karabakh War Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Öz

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may adversely affect coping, social and occupational functioning, and health-related quality of life. Data on these dimensions among Second Karabakh War veterans remain limited. This study aimed to characterize combat exposure, coping strategies, sociodemographic features, and quality of life in veterans with PTSD.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 50 Second Karabakh War veterans with clinically diagnosed PTSD receiving psychiatric care at the Republican Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. Combat exposure was assessed using the Combat Exposure Scale, quality of life using the SF-36, and coping behavior using a 60-item coping questionnaire. Categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and percentages.

Results: Most participants were young, unmarried, and unemployed, with unemployment reported in 88%. Combat exposure was low in 44%, moderate in 24%, increased in 18%, and high in 14%. The most frequent coping strategies were seeking social support (96%), psychological disengagement (84%), turning to religion (84%), emotional support seeking (74%), and denial (72%). Quality of life was impaired across physical and mental domains, with pain and emotional functioning particularly affected.

Conclusions: Veterans with PTSD demonstrated heterogeneous combat exposure, frequent use of both supportive and potentially maladaptive coping strategies, and substantial functional burden. Assessment of veterans with PTSD should incorporate coping behavior, social and occupational functioning, and health-related quality of life in addition to psychiatric symptoms.