© 2019 Pereira et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms. php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). Patient Related Outcome Measures 2019:10 49–58 Patient Related Outcome Measures Dovepress submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Dovepress 49 ORiginal ReseaRch open access to scientific and medical research Open access Full Text article http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PROM.S163698 Quality of life in elderly Portuguese war veterans with post-traumatic stress symptoms M graça Pereira 1 José c Ma chado 2 Marta Pereira 1 cristiana lopes 3 susana Pedras 1 1 school of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga 4710-057, Portugal; 2 inst itute of social sciences, University of Minho, Braga 4710-057, Portugal; 3 hospital of Braga, sete Fontes – são Victor , Braga 4710-243, Portugal Background: Studies show that post-traumatic stress symptoms among Portuguese veterans who participated in Colonial War (1961–75) are high, even though 43 years have gone by since the end of the war. Aims: This study analyzed the role of family type, personality traits, and social support as predictors of post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life in war veterans, and whether satisfaction with social support was a mediator between neuroticism/post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 230 war veterans with a mean age of 60 years (SD=3.82). Results: Results indicated a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms as well as high neuroticism, 16.5 (SD=4.41); 81% of veterans presented high psychological distress, suggest- ing emotional disturbance and 71% belonged to extreme families (families with cohesion and adaptability problems). Results showed that age (β=-0.166, p<0.05), social support (β=-0.184, p<0.01), and neuroticism (β=0.325, p<0.001) predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms. Age, professional status, social support, post-traumatic stress symptoms, family type, neuroticism, and extroversion predicted different dimensions of quality of life. Finally, a path analysis showed that satisfaction with social support was a mediator in the relationship between neuroticism and quality of life (β=-0.066; p<0.01) and between post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life (β=-0.108; p<0.01). Conclusion: Four decades after the Colonial War have passed, there is still a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Screening elderly veterans who present post-traumatic stress symptoms, for the presence of neuroticism traits, and assessing family type and social support, should be a standard practice in health care services, especially in the oldest and those who are retired. Social support should be promoted in order to enhance quality of life in this population. Keywords: war veterans, post-traumatic stress symptoms, personality traits, social support, quality of life Introduction In Portugal, about 1 million young Portuguese went to mandatory military service in Africa (Guinea, Angola, and Mozambique) between 1961 and 1975, corresponding to 10% of the country’s population in what was called the Colonial War. In an epide- miological study conducted by Albuquerque, 1 in 1992, it was estimated that 140,000 of those who served their country and returned had severe chronic psychological problems. However, the psychological problems in this population are “hidden in plain sights” and it is important to offer the appropriated physical and mental health services. correspondence: M graça Pereira school of Psychology, University of Minho, campus de gualtar, Braga 4710-057, Portugal Tel +351 25 360 4683 email gracep@psi.uminho.pt Patient Related Outcome Measures downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 54.70.40.11 on 22-Sep-2019 For personal use only. 1 / 1