Abstract

Introduction: Post traffic accident depression is one of the most prevelant mental disorders which increased in recent years and its occurance in early years of life affects daily living productivity and also family and society. Therefore it’s important to promptly detect it and refers them to psychiatrist for  diagnosis and treatment.

Objevtive: The goal of this study was to determine the level of depression one week and also two months after traffic accidents.

Methods: This study had descriptive-cross stional design. Participants were chosen from orthopaedic and trauma wards in Poursina hospital in Rasht city. Data were collected in two time periods (one week and two months after the traffic accident ) from 89 patients using demographic and Beck Depression Inventory questionnaires. Data were collected in 2010 and T- test was used as statistical test for analysis.

Results: Findings showed that the majority(37.1%) had mild depression one week after  the accident but the level of depression significantly increased two months after as 38.5% of samples had severe depression.

Conclusion: Study results indicated that a significant percent of patients experience depression after traffic accident which is related to symptoms two months after. Health care personnel in emergency and other wards need to assess patients for these symptoms. Early detection and referring patients for depression treatment can prevent it from becoming chronic.

Key words: Post troumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Traffic accidents, Trauma