An investigation of the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder on physical health.

Abstract

In a large sample of Gulf War veterans (N = 2301) we examined the relations between PTSD symptoms assessed immediately upon returning from the Gulf War and self-reported health problems assessed 18-24 months later. PTSD symptomatology was predictive of self-reported health problems over time for both men and women veterans, even after the effects of combat exposure were removed from the analysis. Female veterans reported significantly more health problems than male veterans, however, there was no interactive effect of gender and PTSD on health problems. These findings provide further support for the theory that psychological response to stressors impacts health outcome.