Black Veterans with PTSD Have a Higher Risk of Rehospitalization After a Stroke

By Hannah Echols | UAB News Results showed that African American veterans with PTSD had a higher risk of rehospitalization than those without PTSD. However, white veterans with PTSD did not have a significantly higher risk of rehospitalization post-stroke. People with post-traumatic stress disorder have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Additionally, veterans are more likely to develop PTSD than civilians, with 23 percent of veterans who receive VA care being diagnosed at some point in their lives. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Birmingham Veterans Administration conducted a study evaluating the effect of PTSD on post-stroke outcomes and rehospitalizations. Results showed that African American veterans previously diagnosed with PTSD were significantly more likely to be rehospitalized than those without PTSD. The results were published today in Stroke, the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association. “If PTSD affected post-stroke outcomes, we expected it would be for veterans across the board,” said Chen Lin, M.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Neurology, neurologist at the Birmingham Veterans Administration and senior author of the study. “Instead, we found that the African American veteran population with PTSD...