US female veterans in VA primary care: Post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and functional status

We sought to examine the relationship between post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, demographic variables, and functional status in US female veterans. One hundred ninety-one female veterans were identified from primary care clinics in four VA Medical Centers for participation in this study. The relationship between demographic variables, physical and mental health functional status on the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and PTSD severity on the PTSD Checklist (PCL) was examined using ANOVAs and simple and multiple linear regression modeling. After adjusting for other demographic covariates, PTSD severity was related to age (older patients reported less symptoms), and employment status (veterans who were not working due to disability reported significantly more PTSD symptoms than those who were working). Additionally, after adjusting for relevant demographic covariates, greater PTSD symptomatology was related to worse functioning across both physical and mental health domains on the SF-36. PTSD symptom severity was easily assessed in this primary care sample of female veterans using the PCL. Screening female veterans through primary care clinics is likely to identify women with PTSD who are not functioning as well as their peers and who are in need of specialized services. These findings are similar to those using men identified through VA primary care clinics.