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| Title: | Gender Disparities in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Mass Trauma |
| Authors: | Stuber, Jennifer
Resnick, Heidi S
Galea, Sandro |
| Keywords: | Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Gender
World Trade Center
Panic |
| Issue Date: | 2006 |
| Publisher: | Gender Medicine |
| Citation: | Gender Medicine, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2006, pp. 54-67 <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/40296> |
| Abstract: | Background: Although several studies have shown that rates of posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) are higher in women than in men, less is known about whether women are more vulnerable
to PTSD after a major community-wide traumatic event.
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine gender disparities in the prevalence of probable
lifetime PTSD and probable PTSD after a mass traumatic event.
Methods: A representative sample of men and women living in the New York City metropolitan area
was selected using random-digit dialing, and subjects were interviewed by telephone 6 to 9 months after
the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks. We assessed probable lifetime PTSD and probable PTSD
related to the 9/11 attacks using a brief screening instrument and potential correlates.
Results: A total of 2752 individuals (1479 women, 1273 men) were interviewed. The lifetime
prevalence of probable PTSD was significantly higher for women than for men (17.2% vs 12.1%; P =
0.005). Experiences of sexual assault (P < 0.001), preexisting mental health problems (P = 0.04),
race/ethnicity (P = 0.01), marital status (P < 0.001), and having had probable peri-event panic in the
first few hours after the 9/11 attacks (P < 0.001) were all significantly related to women’s greater susceptibility
to probable lifetime PTSD. However, the prevalence of probable PTSD related to 9/11 was
not significantly different between women and men (6.5% vs 5.4%), although women were significantly
more likely to report re-experiencing (P < 0.001) and hyperarousal (P < 0.001) symptoms than
were men. Women were more likely than men to experience probable peri-event panic during the
9/11 attacks (P < 0.001); this explained, in part, the greater subsequent likelihood of re-experiencing
and hyperarousal symptoms among women compared with men.
Conclusions: More factors explain the risk of PTSD among women and men after interpersonal
trauma than after a disaster. Using peri-event panic symptomatology after a traumatic event to determine
the risk of posttraumatic symptoms may suggest avenues for intervention that can decrease the
burden of PTSD in women. (Gend Med. 2006;3:54–67) Copyright © 2006 Excerpta Medica, Inc. |
| Appears in Collections: | Public Health, School of (SPH)
Epidemiology, Department of (SPH)
Institute for Social Research (ISR)
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| Stuber_Gender Disparities in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder_2006.pdf | | 112Kb | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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