Sex Differences in Screening Positive for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After Combat Injury

U.S. military women were at risk of combat exposure and injury from asymmetric warfare during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Previous research has yielded mixed results when examining sex differences in PTSD following operational deployment. To date, no study has explored sex differences in PTSD after combat injury. This retrospective study included U.S. military service men and women who experienced a combat injury in Iraq or Afghanistan (March 2003 to March 2013) and completed a Post-Deployment Health Assessment (PDHA) within 1 year of injury. The PDHA is administered at the end of deployment and includes the 4-item Primary Care PTSD Screen. The prevalence of screening positive for PTSD was evaluated by sex using a chi-square test. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between sex and PTSD while adjusting for covariates. The study sample included 16,215 injured military personnel (666 women and 15,549 men). The average time between injury and PDHA was 132 days (SD = 91.0). Overall, women had a higher prevalence of screening positive for PTSD than men (48.3% vs. 40.9%, P