The assessment of combat exposure, mental and physical health problems in portuguese colonial war veterans: a scoping review

After the Portuguese Colonial War (PCW), some research was conducted to examine PCW veterans' combat exposure, as well as their report of mental and physical health problems. Research revealed that the PCW left, and still presents, deep psychological and physical marks for many veterans. However, after 47 years, there is no available information regarding the most frequently used, as well as the most reliable and valid tools that measure these outcomes. This information is essential for researchers and clinicians to help them choose the most feasible measures to assess current and potential future veterans. To address this issue, this scoping review synthesizes information on preference and psychometric robustness of measures that assess combat exposure, mental and physical health problems in PCW veterans. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, searches were conducted, in May 2021; in five electronic databases for the inclusion of Portuguese or English quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method peer reviewed studies or gray literature. Fifty-six studies were identified; 40 were considered eligible. Of the identified measures, only three were validated for PCW veterans, namely, the Exposure to Combat Severity Scale, Combat Distress Scale, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military Version. Currently, these reveal to be the most valid and reliable measures to assess combat exposure, emotional distress, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, findings also revealed a need for further development, adaptation or validation of self-report measures, especially regarding physical health problems. These will help clinicians and researchers to enhance their quality of assessment.
The authors thank the Ministry of National Defense for partially funding this project. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM) School of Psychology, University of Minho, and supported partially by the Portuguese Ministry of National Defense and partially by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDB/01662/2020). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the article.