title: Exposure to trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in older veterans attending primary care: comorbid conditions and self-rated health status.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and its association with health characteristics in a geriatric primary care population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional screening assessments during a multisite trial for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and at-risk drinking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-based primary care clinics across the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen thousand two hundred five veterans aged 65 and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sociodemographic information, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), questions about death wishes and suicidal ideation, quantity and frequency of alcohol use, smoking, exposure to traumatic events, and PTSD symptom clusters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve percent (2,041/17,205) of participants screened endorsed PTSD symptoms. Veterans with PTSD symptoms from some (partial PTSD) or each (PTSD all clusters) of the symptom clusters were significantly more likely to report poor general health, currently smoke, be divorced, report little or no social support, and have a higher prevalence of mental distress, death wishes, and suicidal ideation than those with no trauma history or those with trauma but no symptoms. Group differences were most pronounced for mental distress and least for at-risk drinking. Presence of PTSD all clusters was associated with poorer outcomes on all of the above-mentioned health characteristics than partial PTSD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PTSD symptoms are common in a substantial minority of older veterans in primary care, and careful inquiry about these symptoms is important for comprehensive assessment in geriatric populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, School of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: U Nalla B
authors.initials: UN
authors.lastname: Durai
authors.forename: Mohit P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.forename: Eugenie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Coakley
authors.forename: Maria D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Llorente
authors.forename: JoAnn E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kirchner
authors.forename: Joan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Sue E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Levkoff
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*