Association of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Incident Ischemic Heart Disease in Women Veterans

Abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with greater risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in predominantly male populations or limited community samples. Women veterans represent a growing, yet understudied, population with high levels of trauma exposure and unique cardiovascular risks, but research on PTSD and IHD in this group is lacking. in this study the question was asked, is a prior diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with incident ischemic heart disease (IHD) in women veterans? In this longitudinal cohort study of 398 769 women veterans, including 132 923 with PTSD matched 1:2 to 265 846 without PTSD, those with PTSD had a 44% higher rate of developing incident IHD. Propensity score matching was used to account for various risk factors, including traditional and female-specific cardiovascular risk factors and mental and physical health disorders. These findings suggest that PTSD is associated with an increased risk of developing incident IHD among women veterans.