Connect to share and comment
Home » Health
July 14, 2012 17:46
Add Alexander Besant to your circles

Experts say PTSD victims need better access to care

Authors of the report said that 40 percent of those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq who had PTSD were told to get further treatment, of whom 65 percent got it in the end.

PTSD sufferEnlarge
A new study says that PTSD sufferers need better access to care. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
What do you think?

A new study says that post traumatic stress disorder sufferers (PTSD) need better access to care.

Authors of the report said that 40 percent of those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq who had PTSD were told to get further treatment.

Yet, researchers said that only about 65 percent of them did get further treatment.

“There is a tremendous amount of goodwill effort in both departments to provide good treatment,” said study author Sandro Galea, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, reported the Boston Globe.

“The challenge is that in the rush to deliver treatment, assessment and monitoring have not been implemented rigorously, and that is a missed opportunity.”

The committee authoring the 400-page report also said that treatment faces obstacles such as lack of training and difficulties reaching soldiers in war zones, said the Capitol Column.

It is believed that about one third of the nearly 2 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have PTSD.

The report by the Institute of Medicine (IoM) is entitled "Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Initial Assessment."

Congress, in collaboration with Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defence, asked for the report to be prepared.

It is the first of a two part review of PTSD treatment, said Medical News Today.
 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/health/120714/experts-say-ptsd-victims-need-better-access-care

.

Featured Slideshow

EU Basel Art Show

Art Basel gathers works from around the world for its annual shows.