What is the profile of post-traumatic reactions within medical literature? A survey of eight journals.

Abstract

The importance of traumatic events is recognised by the public but the profile of psychological sequelae such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within psychiatry and medicine is unclear. We aimed to establish the profile of PTSD within high impact medical journals and within psychiatric journals based in America and the United Kingdom, since the initial classification of PTSD in DSM-III in 1980 and, before and after classification of PTSD in ICD-10 in 1992. A survey of all articles on post-traumatic reactions published in eight journals between 1980 and 2000. The proportion of articles on PTSD was less in UK based psychiatric journals than their counterparts based in America. The proportion of articles published after the classification of PTSD in ICD-10 has increased in both psychiatric and medical journals. In UK based journals, there is an under-representation of articles on PTSD compared with disorders of similar prevalence.