Executive Function and Attention Deficits in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Study on Iranian War Veterans

Abstract

Objectives: Patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) show poor cognitive performance during neuropsychological tests. Literature is scarce regarding veterans suffering with chronic PTSD. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare the cognitive deficiencies of veterans with chronic PTSD with those of healthy participants. Methods: A total of 51 hospitalized veterans and 45 healthy individuals were selected using a purposeful sampling method. Both groups performed a simple Stroop Test and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Results: The results of independent samples t-test showed a significant difference in cognitive impairment between the veterans with PTSD and healthy subjects, and the veterans had lower performances on most aspects of the tests than that of the control group. Discussion: According to our results, veterans with chronic PTSD showed lower cognitive performance than that of healthy individuals. This suggests that examination of the cognitive functioning of patients with PTSD can be useful in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of PTSD.

Keywords

• PTSD
• Disabled veteran
• Executive functions
• Attention