The Impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on the Quality of Life: A Systematic Review

Aims: To review the relevant literature on Quality of Life (QOL) impairment in PTSD and the impact of treatment interventions on QOL.

Methods: A database search from 1980-2012 was conducted using Medline, PsycINFO, and the PILOTS database using the keywords: “PTSD”, “posttraumatic stress disorder”, “stress disorders”, “quality of life”, “QOL”, and “health-related quality of life.” Two reviewers applied pre-defined selection criteria independently and reached a consensus on the inclusion of 37 studies that focused on QOL in PTSD. The impact of PTSD interventions on QOL was analyzed.

Results: The findings revealed that QOL is gravely impaired in PTSD populations, such as veterans, refugees, survivors of terrorist attacks, natural disaster survivors, rescue personnel, and survivors of violence. Research shows that PTSD is an independent predictor of QOL impairment and that various psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment modalities might potentially improve QOL in PTSD. However, their ability to improve QOL up to community norm levels is unclear.

Conclusion: QOL is seriously compromised in patients suffering from PTSD. It would be important to include QOL as an outcome measure in PTSD clinical and research work in order to identify the PTSD treatments that best improve QOL in different populations.