PTSD prevalence among US military veterans higher than previously estimated

The prevalence of PTSD in U.S. military veterans is higher than previous estimates, according to results of a cross-sectional, retrospective study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

“The most recent data on the epidemiology of PTSD in veterans were published in 2016,” Blair Wisco, PhD, of the department of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and colleagues wrote. “Because the demographic composition of the U.S. military veteran population is rapidly changing, there is a need for an updated prevalence in a contemporary sample.”

Researchers sought to analyze the most recent data regarding PTSD prevalence and conditional probabilities in the U.S. military veteran population, to assess the likelihood of that population developing PTSD following direct versus indirect exposures to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), and to determine the effects of both direct and indirect PTEs and PTSD on functional impairment.

Wisco and colleagues examined information on a nationally representative sample of 4,069 veterans culled from the 2019–20 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, an online survey conducted from November 2019 to March 2020. Trauma exposures were gauged via the Life Events Checklist-5 and PTSD measured with the PTSD Checklist in accordance with the DSM-5.

Results showed that prevalence of lifetime PTSD among the survey population (9.4%) was slightly higher than 2016 estimates (6.9% to 8.1%). Direct and indirect PTEs were also prevalent among veterans, with a strong correlation between exposure to both and the odds of experiencing both lifetime and past-month PTSD. However, only direct PTEs were associated with higher conditional probability of past-month PTSD and greater functional impairment.

“Further research is needed to replicate these findings using structured interviews, evaluate the burden of subthreshold PTSD, and evaluate the efficacy of interventions designed to mitigate the deleterious effects of PTSD and exposure to direct PTEs on functioning in this and other populations,” Wisco and colleagues wrote.