Volume 16, Issue 1 (March 2018)                   Iranian Rehabilitation Journal 2018, 16(1): 17-24 | Back to browse issues page

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Samadi R, Razaghi Kashani E M, Kami M, Rezaei O. Executive Function and Attention Deficits in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Study on Iranian War Veterans. Iranian Rehabilitation Journal 2018; 16 (1) :17-24
URL: http://irj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-708-en.html
Executive Function and Attention Deficits in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Study on Iranian War Veterans
Rajab Samadi1 , Emran Mohammad Razaghi Kashani1 , Maryam Kami2 , Omid Rezaei * 3
1- Department of Psychiatry, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3- Psychosis Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:   (6097 Views)

Objectives: Patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) show poor cognitive performance during neuropsychological tests. Literature is scarce regarding veterans suffering with chronic PTSD. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare the cognitive deficiencies of veterans with chronic PTSD with those of healthy participants.
Methods: A total of 51 hospitalized veterans and 45 healthy individuals were selected using a purposeful sampling method. Both groups performed a simple Stroop Test and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
Results: The results of independent samples t-test showed a significant difference in cognitive impairment between the veterans with PTSD and healthy subjects, and the veterans had lower performances on most aspects of the tests than that of the control group.
Discussion: According to our results, veterans with chronic PTSD showed lower cognitive performance than that of healthy individuals. This suggests that examination of the cognitive functioning of patients with PTSD can be useful in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of PTSD.

Keywords: PTSD, Disabled veteran, Executive functions, Attention
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Article type: Original Research Articles | Subject: Psychology
Received: 2017/10/5 | Accepted: 2018/01/1 | Published: 2018/03/1
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