Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:44:14.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Risk of post-traumatic stress disorder following traumatic events in a community sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2014

J. White ,
J. Pearce ,
S. Morrison ,
F. Dunstan ,
J. I. Bisson  and
D. L. Fone
J. White*
Affiliation:
Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
J. Pearce
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK
S. Morrison
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK
F. Dunstan
Affiliation:
Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK
J. I. Bisson
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK
D. L. Fone
Affiliation:
Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr J. White, Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement, School of Medicine, 4th floor Neuadd Meirionnydd, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4YS, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Aims.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is typically associated with high-risk population groups, but the risk of PTSD that is associated with trauma experienced in the community, and effect of changes in diagnostic criteria in DSM-5 on prevalence in the general population, is unknown.

Methods.

Cross-sectional analysis of population-based data from 4558 adults aged 25–83 years resident in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, UK. Exposure to different traumatic events was assessed using categorisation of free-text descriptions of trauma. PTSD caseness was determined using items assessing Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV (DSM-IV) and DSM-5 A criteria and the Traumatic Screening Questionnaire.

Results.

Of the 4558 participants, 1971 (47.0%) reported a traumatic event. The most common DSM-IV A1 qualifying trauma was life-threatening illnesses and injuries (13.6%). The highest risk of PTSD was associated with assaultive violence [34.1%]. The prevalence of PTSD using DSM-IV A criteria was 14.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 12.8, 15.9%). Using DSM-5 A criteria reduced the prevalence to 8.0 (95% CI = 6.9, 9.4%), primarily due to exclusion of DSM-IV A1 qualifying events, such as life-threatening illnesses.

Conclusions.

Nearly one-half of a general community sample had experienced a traumatic event and of these around one in seven was a DSM-IV case of PTSD. Although the majority of research has concentrated on combat, rape and assaultive violence, life threatening illness is a more common cause of PTSD in the community. Removal of this traumatic event in DSM-5 could reduce the number of cases of PTSD by around 6.0%.

Keywords

Epidemiologypost-traumatic stress disordertraumatraumatic event
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 249 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Publishing: Arlington, VA.Google Scholar
Blake, DD, Weathers, FW, Nagy, LM, Kaloupek, DG, Gusman, FD, Charney, DS, Keane, TM (1995). The development of a clinician-administered PTSD scale. Journal of Traumatic Stress 8, 75–90.Google ScholarPubMed
Breslau, N (2001). The epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder: what is the extent of the problem? Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 62 (Suppl. 17), 16–22.Google ScholarPubMed
Breslau, N, Davis, GC, Andreski, P, Peterson, EL, Schultz, LR (1997 a). Sex differences in posttraumatic stress disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 54, 1044–1048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breslau, N, Davis, GC, Peterson, EL, Schultz, L (1997 b). Psychiatric sequelae of posttraumatic stress disorder in women. Archives of General Psychiatry 54, 81–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breslau, N, Kessler, RC, Chilcoat, HD, Schultz, LR, Davis, GC, Andreski, P (1998). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in the community: the 1996 Detroit Area Survey of Trauma. Archives of General Psychiatry 55, 626–632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breslau, N, Wilcox, HC, Storr, CL, Lucia, VC, Anthony, JC (2004). Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder: a study of youths in urban America. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 81, 530–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brewin, CR, Rose, S, Andrews, B, Green, J, Tata, P, McEvedy, C, Turner, S, Foa, EB (2002). Brief screening instrument for post-traumatic stress disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry 181, 158–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brewin, CR, Lanius, RA, Novac, A, Schnyder, U, Galea, S (2009). Reformulating PTSD for DSM-5: Life after Criterion A. Journal of Traumatic Stress 22, 366–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement 20, 37–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creamer, MC, Burgess, P, McFarlane, AC (2001). Post-traumatic stress disorder: findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being. Psychological Medicine 31, 1237–1247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crockett, A, Rafferty, A, Higgins, V, Marshall, A (2011). Weighting the Social Surveys. ESDS Government. Retrieved 4 September 2012 from http://www.esds.ac.uk/Government/docs/weighting.doc.Google Scholar
De Vries, GJ, Olff, M (2009). The lifetime prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in the Netherlands. Journal of Traumatic Stress 22, 259–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elhai, JD, Miller, ME, Ford, JD, Biehn, TL, Palmieri, PA, Frueh, BC (2012). Posttraumatic stress disorder in DSM-5: Estimates of prevalence and symptom structure in a nonclinical sample of college students. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 26, 58–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foa, EB, Riggs, DS, Dancu, CV, Rothbaum, BO (1993). Reliability and validity of a brief instrument for assessing post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress 6, 459–473.Google Scholar
Fone, DL, Dunstan, F, White, J, Kelly, M, Farewell, D, John, G, Lyons, RA, Lloyd, K (2013). Cohort profile: the caerphilly health and social needs electronic cohort study (E-CATALyST). International Journal of Epidemiology 42, 1620–1628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, MJ, Resick, PA, Bryant, RA, Brewin, CR (2011). Considering PTSD for DSM-5. Depression and Anxiety 28, 750–769.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, LA, Corcoran, C, Turner, K, Yuan, N, Green, BL (1998). Assessing traumatic event exposure: general issues and preliminary findings for the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire. Journal of Traumatic Stress 11, 521–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, MJ, Litz, BT, Hsu, JL, Lombardo, TW (2004). Psychometric properties of the life events checklist. Assessment 11, 330–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Helzer, JE, Robins, LN, McEvoy, L (1987). Post-traumatic stress disorder in the general population. Findings of the epidemiologic catchment area survey. New England Journal of Medicine 317, 1630–1634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, RC, Sonnega, A, Bromet, E, Hughes, M, Nelson, CB (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry 52, 1048–1060.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kilpatrick, DG, Resnick, HS, Acierno, R (2009). Should PTSD Criterion A be retained? Journal of Traumatic Stress 22, 374–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McManus, S, Meltzer, H, Brugha, T, Bebbington, P, Jenkins, R (2009). Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007. Results of a Household Survey. The NHS Information Centre. Retrieved 30 January 2014 from http://www.esds.ac.uk/doc/6379/mrdoc/pdf/6379research_report.pdf.Google Scholar
Perkonigg, A, Kessler, RC, Storz, S, Wittchen, HU (2000). Traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder in the community: prevalence, risk factors and comorbidity. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 101, 46–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, AL, Gilman, SE, Breslau, J, Breslau, N, Koenen, KC (2011). Race/ethnic differences in exposure to traumatic events, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatment-seeking for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States. Psychological Medicine 41, 71–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosen, GM, Lilienfeld, SO, Frueh, BC, McHugh, PR, Spitzer, RL (2010). Reflections on PTSD's future in DSM-V. British Journal of Psychiatry 197, 343–344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salminen, S (2004). Have young workers more injuries than older ones? An international literature review. Journal of Safety Research 35, 513–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh-Manoux, A, Guéguen, A, Ferrie, J, Shipley, M, Martikainen, P, Bonenfant, S, Goldberg, M, Marmot, M (2008). Gender differences in the association between morbidity and mortality among middle-aged men and women. American Journal of Public Health 98, 2251–2257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Summerfield, D (2004). Cross-cultural perspectives on the medicalization of human suffering. In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Issues and Controversies (ed. Rosen, GM), pp. 233–245. John Wiley: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

White Supplementary Material

Tables

Download White Supplementary Material(File)
File 118.8 KB