Abstract

Introduction Chemical weapons induce various and long-lasting physical complications that can affect mental health. We assessed the psychiatric status of chemical and non-chemical injured war veterans. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study on chemical and non-chemical war injured veterans. The Persian version of the Beck Depressive Inventory, Social Anxiety Scale and both the PTSD Checklist-Military and Impact of Event Scale-Revised were used for evaluation of psychiatric condition. Data were analyzed and compared using SPSS version 16 and P?<?0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The prevalence of clinical depression was 47.5 and 48.3, for anxiety it was 11.3 and 7.9, and for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) it was 40 and 28.1 in chemical and non-chemical injured veterans, respectively. Depression, anxiety and PTSD prevalence and scales did not show any significant difference between chemical and non-chemical war injured veterans (P?<?0.05). There was a relationship between these variables and some factors, such as type of soldier dispatch by military organizations (P?<?0.05) and their occupations (P?<?0.05), but there was no relationship between these and accident time, literacy, and type of chemical agents (P?>?0.05). Discussion In the literature, the mental health of civilians who have been exposed to chemical agents could be affected because of long-term adverse consequences, but in the present study psychological condition did not show any difference between chemical and non-chemical war injured veterans. Further investigation on veterans is necessary.