Women with post-traumatic stress disorder have poorer general health than women with depression alone
Women with post-traumatic stress disorder
report greater medical comorbidity and poorer general health than
women with depression alone, according to an article in the June
28th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
According to the article, patients with depression
and post-traumatic stress disorder make up about 12 percent of primary
care patients, and depression has been linked with poor health,
the article states. However, the association between post-traumatic
stress disorder and physical illness in women has been poorly understood.
In the current study, Susan M. Frayne, MD, MPH, and her American
colleagues compared the number of medical symptoms and overall health
status of women with post-traumatic stress disorder (n=4,348; average
age, 45.7 years), women with depression alone (n=7,580; average
age, 50.2 years), and women with neither psychiatric disorder (n=18,937;
average age, 53.2 years).
The researchers found that among women younger than 45 years, 17
percent had a reported history of post-traumatic stress disorder
and 25 percent had a reported history of depression. Among women
aged 45 to 64 years, 17 percent had post-traumatic stress disorder
and 28 percent had depression; among women 65 years or older, 4
percent had post-traumatic stress disorder and 20 percent had depression.
Across all ages, women with post-traumatic stress disorder had
more medical conditions and worse physical health status (poor physical
functioning, role limitations due to physical problems, pain, low
energy) than women with depression alone or women with neither condition.
"Post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with a greater
burden of medical illness than is seen with depression alone,"
wrote the authors. "The presence of post-traumatic stress disorder
may account for an important component of the excess medical morbidity
and functional status limitations seen in women with depression."
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