[Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in Turkish-speaking patients in primary care].

In a consecutive cross-sectional study 195 Turkish/Kurdish patients from seven general practices (40.5 +/- 13.3 years, 63.6 % female) were examined with regard to traumatisation and psychological distress with the Essen Trauma Inventory (ETI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In mean the average duration of living in Germany was 25,3 years (SD = 8.9). 53.3 % reported at least one traumatic event in their life. Of those who experienced a traumatic event, 19.6 % met testpsychometric a positive diagnosis of PTSD. In general, patients with PTSD were more likely to report more about doctor visits (p <or= 0.03), psychotherapy (p <or= 0.01), and use of psychotropics (p <or= 0.01) compared to non traumatized patients. In addition, psychological distress was observed more in PTSD patients on depression (p <or= 0.03) and anxiety (p <or= 0.03) than non traumatized patients. The study demonstrates that PTSD on Turkish/Kurdish migrants is highly prevalent in the primary care. Therefore, the aspect of traumatisation should be increasingly taken into consideration in the diagnostic process.