Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Sep 26;54(15):1-14.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291724002319. Online ahead of print.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence: an umbrella review

Alexa Schincariol  1   2   3 , Graziella Orrù  4 , Henry Otgaar  5   6 , Giuseppe Sartori  1 , Cristina Scarpazza  1   7
Affiliations
Review

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence: an umbrella review

Alexa Schincariol et al. Psychol Med. .

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most serious and incapacitating mental diseases that can result from trauma exposure. The exact prevalence of this disorder is not known as the literature provides very different results, ranging from 2.5% to 74%. The aim of this umbrella review is to provide an estimation of PTSD prevalence and to clarify whether the prevalence depends on the assessment methods applied (structured interview v. self-report questionnaire) and on the nature of the traumatic event (interpersonal v. not-interpersonal). A systematic search of major databases and additional sources (Google Scholar, EBSCO, Web of Science, PubMed, Galileo Discovery) was conducted. Fifty-nine reviews met the criteria of this umbrella review. Overall PTSD prevalence was 23.95% (95% confidence interval 95% CI 20.74-27.15), with no publication bias or significant small-study effects, but a high level of heterogeneity between meta-analyses. Sensitivities analyses revealed that these results do not change after removing meta-analysis also including data from underage participants (23.03%, 95% CI 18.58-27.48), nor after excluding meta-analysis of low quality (24.26%, 95% CI 20.46-28.06). Regarding the impact of diagnostic instruments on PTSD prevalence, the results revealed a lack of significant differences in PTSD prevalence when structured v. self-report instruments were applied (p = 0.0835). Finally, PTSD prevalence did not differ following event of intentional (25.42%, 95% CI 19.76-31.09) or not intentional (22.48%, 95% CI 17.22-27.73) nature (p = 0.4598). The present umbrella review establishes a robust foundation for future research and provides valuable insights on PTSD prevalence.

Keywords: PTSD; assessment; intentional event; non-intentional event; posttraumatic stress disorder; prevalence; self-report; structured clinical interview; traumatic event; umbrella review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flowchart of literature search.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PTSD prevalence by type of traumatic event.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Forest plot with the outcome of the umbrella review on PTSD prevalence.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
PTSD prevalence by assessment method.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abbey, G., Thompson, S. B. N., Hickish, T., & Heathcote, D. (2015). A meta-analysis of prevalence rates and moderating factors for cancer-related post-traumatic stress disorder. Psycho-Oncology, 24(4), 371–381. 10.1002/pon.3654 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agbaria, N., Petzold, S., Deckert, A., Henschke, N., Veronese, G., Dambach, P., … Winkler, V. (2021). Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among Palestinian children and adolescents exposed to political violence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE, 16(8), e0256426. 10.1371/journal.pone.0256426 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Saadi, L. S., Chan, M. F., & Al-Azri, M. (2022). Prevalence of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among children and adolescents with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing, 39(2), 114–131. 10.1177/27527530211056001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alisic, E., Zalta, A. K., Van Wesel, F., Larsen, S. E., Hafstad, G. S., Hassanpour, K., & Smid, G. E. (2014). Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed children and adolescents: Meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 204(5), 335–340. 10.1192/bjp.bp.113.131227 - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5-TR (fifth edition, text revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Publishing.

LinkOut - more resources