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Trauma and current symptoms of PTSD in a South East London community

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its association with traumatic events in a representative sample of an inner city population in the UK.

Methods

A representative community sample of 1,698 adults, aged 16 years and over, from two south London boroughs were interviewed face to face with structured survey questionnaires.

Results

The prevalence of current symptoms of PTSD was 5.5 %. Women were more likely to screen positive (6.4 %) than men (3.6 %), and symptoms of PTSD were high in the unemployed (12.5 %), in those not working because of health reasons (18.2 %) and in the lowest household income group (14.8 %). Most (78.2 %) of the study population had lifetime trauma and more than a third (39.7 %) reported childhood trauma. There was an independent association between childhood as well as lifetime trauma and current symptoms of PTSD and a gradient association between an increase in cumulative traumatic events and the likelihood of reporting symptoms of current PTSD (OR 1.8, 95 % CI (1.6–2.1)). Although we observed the highest prevalence of current symptoms of PTSD in those migrated for asylum or political reason (13.6 %), compared to the non-migrants, the prevalence of exposure to most traumatic life events was higher in the non-migrant group.

Conclusion

The present study demonstrates the high prevalence of exposure to trauma in a South East London community and the cumulative effect on current symptoms of PTSD. As PTSD is a condition which is associated with disability and co-morbidity, the association of current PTSD with common adversities in the community should be noted.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Biomedical Research Nucleus data management and informatics facility at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London and a joint infrastructure grant from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and the Maudsley Charity. These funders had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis or the decision to submit for publication. SF, SLH, MH and BG receive salary support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Department Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, 10 Cutcombe Road, London, SE5 9RJ, UK

    Souci Frissa, Stephani L. Hatch, Billy Gazard & Matthew Hotopf

  2. Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, King’s College London, 10 Cutcombe Road, London, SE5 9RJ, UK

    Nicola T. Fear

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  1. Souci Frissa
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  2. Stephani L. Hatch
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  4. Nicola T. Fear
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  5. Matthew Hotopf
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SELCoH study team

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Souci Frissa.

Additional information

N. T. Fear and M. Hotopf are joint senior authors.

Members of the SELCoH study team are presented in Appendix.

Appendix

Appendix

The SELCoH study team: Matthew Hotopf, Stephani L Hatch, Souci Frissa, Maria Verdecchia, Aysha Begum, Robert Stewart, Nicola T Fear, Abraham Reichenberg, Craig Morgan, Bwalya Kankulu, Jennifer Carter, Billy Gazard, Robert Medcalf, Alistair Baile, Elizabeth Doherty, Deborah Bekele, Helena Bundy, Joshua Buckman, Grant Henderson and Benedict Weobong.

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Frissa, S., Hatch, S.L., Gazard, B. et al. Trauma and current symptoms of PTSD in a South East London community. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 48, 1199–1209 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-013-0689-8

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