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Incidence in males vs. females

What is incidence?

The incidence of PTSD refers to how many new cases there are per population in a specified time-period after exposure to a specific event. It is different from prevalence, which represents how many overall cases exist. This topic presents the evidence on incidence rates in males compared to females. Please also see the topics on prevalence rates in males vs. females and the sex differences in risk of PTSD.

What is the evidence for differences in incidence rates between males and females?

Moderate quality evidence found the incidence of PTSD in children and adolescents was higher in females than males (21% vs. 11%) after exposure to any trauma. Rates were highest in female children and adolescents exposed to interpersonal trauma (33%). The incidence of PTSD following exposure to earthquakes was also higher in females than males (35% vs. 23%).

Moderate to low quality evidence found the prevalence of PTSD in mothers ranged from 23% to 49.1% within 3 months post-loss of an infant, from 0.6% to 37% between 3 months and 12 months post-loss, and from 3.3% to 15.2% by 18 years post-loss. In fathers, prevalence of PTSD ranged from 5% to 8.4% between 7 weeks and 18 years post-loss.

April 2022

Image: ©melita – stock.adobe.com

Last updated at: 4:05 pm, 6th April 2022
To view documentation related to this topic download the files below
Fact Sheet Technical Commentary
Tags:  Sex differences

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