War Experiences and General Health Among People in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.

War experiences may have an extensive impact on the health status of the exposed populations. This population-based study aimed to examine the relationship between war experiences and self-reported general health in representative sample surveys from Bosnia-Herzegovina (n = 3,313) and Kosovo (n = 1,000). Data were collected with face-to-face interviews fielded in the winter of 2003-2004. Logistic regression analysis was used to compute unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (ORs). The adjusted effects of the extensiveness of war experiences on poor health were positive in both countries, but they were statistically significant only for Bosnia-Herzegovina: OR = 1.04, 95% CI [1.00, 1.08] for Bosnia-Herzegovina and OR = 1.03, 95% CI [0.98, 1.09] for Kosovo. The strongest observed effect was found for Kosovo only: The extensiveness of war experiences was relatively strongly related to longstanding health problems, OR = 1.09, 95% CI [1.03, 1.15]. We found that war experiences may contribute to increased poorer health in the exposed populations; however, the effects 4-9 years after the war ended were modest. Hence, war experiences seemed to be more strongly related to war-related distress and posttraumatic stress disorder than to self-reported general health.