title: Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in the elderly: findings from a German community study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study assessed the risk of trauma exposure and subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an elderly community sample. Furthermore, gender differences and psychiatric comorbidity were analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  3170 adults living in a German community were assessed by the PTSD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and the Composite International Diagnostic-Screener. They were assigned to 3 age groups: young (44 years and younger; N = 997), middle-aged (45-64 years; N = 1322), and elderly (65 years and older; N = 851). Data for the present study were collected between December 2002 and December 2006.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At least 1 trauma was reported by 54.6%, and the odds for trauma exposure were almost 4-fold in the elderly compared to the younger age groups (OR = 3.74; 95% CI = 3.13 to 4.47). Among those traumatized, the lifetime and 1-month prevalence rates of PTSD in the elderly were 3.1% and 1.5%, respectively, and did not differ from the rates of the young and middle-aged adults. Elderly men had a significantly increased risk for trauma exposure in general than elderly women (p = .012), but there were no gender differences in PTSD prevalence rates. Elderly PTSD-positive participants had significantly higher odds for any psychiatric syndrome than those without PTSD (OR = 9.10; 95% CI = 2.64 to 31.28) with depression and anxiety being the most frequent conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that PTSD is certainly not rare in the elderly and that a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD is associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Assessment of trauma and PTSD should be integrated into routine examinations of the elderly to improve management and treatment provisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Greifswald/Stralsund, Germany. c.spitzer@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spitzer
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barnow
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Völzke
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Harald J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Freyberger
authors.forename: Hans Joergen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Grabe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology