Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Risk of Hypertension Over 22 Years in a Large Cohort of Younger and Middle-aged Women
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Author
Sumner, Jennifer
Kubzansky, Laura
Roberts, Andrea
Gilsanz, Paola
Chen, Qixuan
Winning, Ashley
Forman, John
Rimm, Eric Bruce::0ab2926c8242f35e5a982e3cf59f4987::600
Koenen, Karestan
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716001914Metadata
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Sumner, J. A., L. D. Kubzansky, A. L. Roberts, P. Gilsanz, Q. Chen, A. Winning, J. P. Forman, E. B. Rimm, and K. C. Koenen. 2016. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Risk of Hypertension over 22 Years in a Large Cohort of Younger and Middle-Aged Women.” Psychological Medicine 46 (15): 3105–16. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291716001914.Abstract
Background. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to hypertension, but most research on PTSD and hypertension is cross-sectional, and potential mediators have not been clearly identified. Moreover, PTSD is twice as common in women as in men, but understanding of the PTSD-hypertension relationship in women is limited. We examined trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms in relation to incident hypertension over 22 years in 47 514 civilian women in the Nurses' Health Study II.Method. We used proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for new-onset hypertension (N = 15 837).Results. PTSD symptoms assessed with a screen were modestly associated with incident hypertension in a doseresponse fashion after adjusting for potential confounders. Compared to women with no trauma exposure, women with 6-7 PTSD symptoms had the highest risk of developing hypertension (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.12-1.30), followed by women with 4-5 symptoms (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.10-1.25), women with 1-3 symptoms (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.06-1.18), and trauma-exposed women with no symptoms (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.09). Findings were maintained, although attenuated, adjusting for hypertension-relevant medications, medical risk factors, and health behaviors. Higher body mass index and antidepressant use accounted for 30% and 21% of the PTSD symptom-hypertension association, respectively.Conclusions. Screening for hypertension and reducing unhealthy lifestyle factors, particularly obesity, in women with PTSD may hold promise for offsetting cardiovascular risk.Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAPCitable link to this page
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41263031
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