title: Posttraumatic stress disorder in peacekeepers: a meta-analysis.
abstract: A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among peacekeepers. A systematic review was carried out using Medline, Institute for Scientific Information/Web of Science and Published International Literature on Traumatic Stress databases, leading to a total of 12 studies reporting PTSD estimates. Pooled current PTSD prevalence was 5.3%, ranging from 0.05% to 25.8%, and a metaregression was used to investigate the variables that could account for the lack of homogeneity. However, none of the extracted information was capable of explaining the heterogeneity of the estimates. Peacekeeping studies presented different methodologies such as several screening instruments and different times from the deployment to the moment of PTSD assessment. The wide difference found among those estimates highlights the importance of the creation of standards for PTSD evaluation among peacekeepers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, National School of Public Health (ENSP-FIOCRUZ), Federal University of Riode Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. wanderson.souza@gmail.com
authors.forename: Wanderson Fernandes
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Figueira
authors.forename: Mauro V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Mendlowicz
authors.forename: Eliane
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Volchan
authors.forename: Carla Marques
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Portella
authors.forename: Ana Carolina Ferraz
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Mendonça-de-Souza
authors.forename: Evandro Silva Freire
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Coutinho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult