Post-traumatic stress disorder in Italy: a comprehensive evaluation of all the ICD comorbidities and gender-related differences

Fabio Ferretti,Anna Coluccia,Laura Del Matto,Andrea Fagiolini,Letizia Bossini,Daiana Bezzini,Giacomo Gualtieri,Miriam Olivola,Serena Desantis,Andrea Pozza,Roberto Gusinu

doi:10.1186/s13104-019-4792-0

Fabio Ferretti, Anna Coluccia + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4792-0

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Abstract

ObjectivesThe association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and medical comorbidities is controversial since most studies focused on specific comorbidity and victim types. In Italy, data on this issue are scarce. A comprehensive evaluation of all the ICD medical categories co-occurring in PTSD may orient assessment and treatment during clinical and forensic practice. This is the first study evaluating all the ICD physical comorbidities and gender-related differences in Italian PTSD patients. Eighty-four PTSD patients (36 females, 48 males) were included. The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Davidson Trauma Scale were administered.ResultsMost patients had a PTSD consequent to an accident and half of them presented extreme symptom severity. No gender differences emerged on symptom severity/duration and age at the event. Metabolic (39.29%), circulatory (20.24%) and musculoskeletal systems/connective tissue diseases (17.86%) were the most frequent comorbidities. Metabolic/circulatory diseases were more frequent among males (p = 0.019 and p = 0.027, respectively) while females more frequently showed neoplasms (p = 0.039). Physical comorbidities represent a serious complication in PTSD patients and are more prevalent than in the Italian population. While gender is not associated with symptom presentation, it seems to play a key role in specific comorbidities including metabolic, circulatory and neoplastic diseases.

Highlights

It has been largely investigated in the literature, the association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and medical comorbidities is still controversial, mainly because the majority of the studies focused on specific medical conditions [1,2,3,4] or populations such as veterans [5, 6]
The relationship between gender and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code “Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases” was not significant, the subcategory related to metabolic syndrome showed a significantly higher proportion of positive males (27.08%) than females (5.56%) (p = 0.019)
Comparisons with previous studies related to the prevalence of comorbidities in PTSD patients are difficult due to the different way of coding the pathologies: many studies focused on specific diseases

Summary

Introduction

It has been largely investigated in the literature, the association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and medical comorbidities is still controversial, mainly because the majority of the studies focused on specific medical conditions [1,2,3,4] or populations such as veterans [5, 6]. According to a review [7], PTSD was associated with greater frequency and severity of cardio-respiratory and gastrointestinal complaints, while a recent study highlighted that chronic or neck problems, Ferretti et al BMC Res Notes (2019) 12:747

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