This site is intended for healthcare professionals

account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Epidemiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Exposure to a traumatic event is vital in PTSD.

  • 44.1%of men and 40.4% of women reported having experienced a major traumatic event at some point in their life
  • 33.3% of adults reported having had their most recent experience of trauma since the age of 16
  • exposure to a traumatic event was higher in men than in women (35.2% compared to 31.5%) but women experience higher impact events (1,2)
  • exposure to a traumatic event was less likely in young people than older people (due to the short amount of time for which they had been adults) (1)

Around 3.0% of adults in England screened positive for current post-traumatic stress disorder

  • difference in sex was not significant amongst the PTSD positive patients (2.6% of men versus 3.3% of women)
  • 28% of people screened positive for PTSD were also on treatment for other psychiatric problems when compared to 7% in people who were negative for PTSD (1)

The risk of developing PTSD varies with the trauma type e.g. - greater in interpersonal violence than in accidents (3). Traumatic events associated with high PTSD rates include:

  • rape – 50%
  • disasters - 30-40%
  • veterans of the Vietnam war – 19%
  • accidents and non-physical assaults – low (4)

Reference:

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page