The Investigation of post- traumatic syndrome disease symptoms among children less than 6 years, 3 months after bombing in Ahvaz

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the level of post–traumatic syndrome disease (PTSD) symptoms among children less than 6 years old, 3 months after the bomb explosion event in Ahvaz city at 2005(1384). In this cross-sectional study, the subjects included all the children attending in the only kindergarten located with the 500 m radius from the bomb explosion area. Although the questionnaires were given to the parents of 100 children, only 62 questionnaires were completed. The data were analyzed through the spss software with non-parametric statistical Procedure.The results showed that 62.97% of children were diagnosed to have difference degrees of PTSD symptoms. These symptoms included re-experience (19.4%), hyper-arousal (14.5%) and avoidance (99.7%). Re-experience showed to have the higher frequency and the most severe symptom was avoidance.The present study showed that a noticeable percentage of pre-school children in the nearest kindergarten to the bombing area had some degrees of PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, this study suggests that appropriate psychological support is needed to be given to people, especially in children, who experience similar events.