Medical Comorbidity of Full and Partial Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in US Adults

Abstract

This study examined associations between lifetime trauma exposures, PTSD and partial PTSD, and past-year medical conditions in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 34,653 participants in the Wave 2 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Logistic regression analyses evaluated associations of trauma exposure, PTSD, and partial PTSD with respondent-reported medical diagnoses. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and comorbid Axis I and II disorders, respondents with full PTSD were more likely than traumatized respondents without full or partial PTSD (comparison group) to report diagnoses of diabetes mellitus, noncirrhotic liver disease, angina pectoris, tachycardia, hypercholesterolemia, other heart disease, stomach ulcer, human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity, gastritis, and arthritis (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.2-2.5). Respondents with partial PTSD were more likely than the comparison group to report past-year diagnoses of stomach ulcer, angina pectoris, tachycardia, and arthritis (ORs = 1.3-1.6). Men with full and partial PTSD were more likely than controls to report diagnoses of hypertension (both ORs = 1.6), and both men and women with PTSD (OR = 1.8 and OR = 1.6, respectively) and men with partial PTSD (OR = 2.0) were more likely to report gastritis. The total number of lifetime traumatic event types was associated with many assessed medical conditions (ORs = 1.04-1.16), reducing the magnitudes and rendering some of the associations between PTSD status and medical conditions nonsignificant. Greater lifetime trauma exposure and PTSD are associated with numerous medical conditions, many of which are stress-related and chronic, in US adults. Partial PTSD is associated with intermediate odds of some of these conditions.