Mutual maintenance of PTSD and physical symptoms for Veterans returning from deployment

Figures & data

Table 1. The mean (standard deviation) and percent with clinically significant symptoms of PTSD and physical symptoms across the deployment spectrum.

	Before deployment (Time 1)	Immediately After Deployment (Time 2)	3 Months After Deployment (Time 3)	One Year After Deployment (Time 4)
PTSD ^a	9.57 (6.0)*	30.44 (11.74)/8.4%	32.86 (13.45)/13.2%	33.63 (15.50)/15.9%
Physical Symptoms ^b	5.25 (3.93)/15.3%	7.94 (4.86)/33.5%	7.67 (5.11)/30.1%	7.71 (5.35)/33.3%

Clinically significant defined as >50 on the Posttraumatic Checklist-IV; ^b Clinically significant defined as >10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 ; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder, *Before deployment negative emotionality was used as a proxy for PTSD.

Table 2. Bivariate correlations between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and physical symptoms across the deployment spectrum.

	PTSD^a Time 1	Phy. Sx. Time 1	PTSD Time 2	Phy. Sx. Time 2	PTSD Time 3	Phy. Sx. Time 3	PTSD Time 4	Phy. Sx. Time 4
Phy. Sx. Time 1	.46		.35	.49	.31	.46	.30	.40
PTSD Time 2	.46	.35		.54	.70	.55	.29	.41
Phy. Sx. Time 2	.25	.49	.54		.49	.60	.60	.58
PTSD Time 3	.46	.31	.70	.49		.65	.44	.48
Phy. Sx. Time 3	.36	.46	.55	.60	.65		.69	.73
PTSD Time 4	.30	.29	.60	.44	.69	.59		.64
Phy. Sx. Time 4	.18	.40	.41	.58	.48	.73	.64

Phy. Sx. = Physical Symptoms, PTSD = Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Time 1 = Before Deployment, Time 2 = Immediately After Deployment, Time 3 = 3-Months After Deployment, Time 4 = 1-Year After Deployment ^a Before deployment negative emotionality was used as a proxy for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. All correlations significant at p < .01.

Table 3. One Year After Deployment % with low, sub-clinical and clinically significant PTSD and physical symptoms.

	PTSD Low	PTSD Sub-Clinical	PTSD Clinical	Total
Phy Sx Low (n) % within Phy Sx % within PTSD	72 64.3% 61.5%	38 33.9% 25.0%	2 1.8% 3.9%	112 100% 35%
Phy Sx Sub-Clinical (n) % within Phy Sx % within PTSD	31 31.3% 26.5%	60 60.6% 39.5%	8 8.1% 15.7%	99 100% 30.9%
Phy Sx Clinical (n) % within Phy Sx % within PTSD	14 12.8% 12.0%	54 49.5% 35.5%	41 37.6% 80.4%	109 100% 34.1%
Total % within Phy Sx % within PTSD	117 36.6% 100%	152 47.5% 100%	51 15.0% 100%	320 100% 100%

Phy Sx = Physical Symptoms, Low = 0–5, Sub-clinical = 5–10, Clinical>15; PTSD = Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Low = 0–24; Sub-clinical = 25–49; Clinical > 50.

Figure 1. Cross-lagged relationship between PTSD and physical symptoms.