Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Gynecological Patients With a History of Sexual and Physical Abuse

Abstract

All patients who visited the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Linköping, Sweden over a 2-week period were sent a questionnaire about experiences of sexual/physical abuse and the Traumatic Event Scale, assessing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Of 649 patients, 26.3% showed a history of sexual or physical abuse in childhood or adulthood. Childhood and adulthood sexual abuse were experienced by 11.6% and 6.5%, respectively, childhood and adulthood physical abuse by 16.9% and 7.9%, respectively. Twenty-nine of all participants (4.5%) met PTSD criteria, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. PTSD was associated with multiple experiences of abuse. The frequency of PTSD symptoms was positively related to the amount and recency of abuse. PTSD participants reported more visits to a physician than abused non-PTSD and nonabused participants. The PTSD group reported less satisfaction than the other two groups with (a) contact with the physician and (b) the help received during visits to the clinic.