title: Sulfur Mustard Effects on Mental Health and Quality-of-Life: A Review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Mental disorders are more common among the chemically injured veterans rather the than the normal population. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of mustard gas (MG) on mental health and quality-of-life (QOL) in the people exposed to it based on reviewing valid published articles.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched English databases including Medline, ISI and Scopus as well as Farsi databases including Iranmedex and Irandoc and reviewed them. The used keywords were in two English and Farsi languages. Forty related full texts out of more than 300 articles were assessed and for their qualification, only the publications in accredited journals were considered sufficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average mental health score of victims using the general health questionnaire (GHQ) was 48.92. The frequency of anxiety was (18-65%), insomnia (13.63%), social performance disturbances (10.73%), severe depression (6-46%), low concentration (54%), emotional problems (98%), behavioral abnormalities (80%), thought processing disturbances (14%), memory impairment (80%), personality disorders (31%), seizures (6%), psychosis (3%). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common and important disorders with lifetime PTSD (8-59%), current PTSD (2-33%) and the QOL in chemical warfare victims decreased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exposure to chemical weapons may lead to physical, mental, social, and economic damages and consequently decrease the victims' (QOL. Therefore, they should be taken into more care.
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mansour
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Razavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Management, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Negahban
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirhosseinloo
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdiyeh Sadat
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Razavi
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Aerospace Medical School, Artesh University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hadjati
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Violence Prevention, Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Payman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salamati
keywords: Chemical Warfare; Iran; Mental Health; Mustard Gas