People diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder are 1.8 times more likely to contract any type of infection, according to a study published in Epidemiology.
Researchers studied all Denmark residents with a PTSD diagnosis from 1995-2011 to examine potential links between PTSD and 28 infections, as well as the effect a patient's sex has on the association.
When diagnosed with PTSD, the risk for any type of infection was nearly double those without PTSD. Associations between PTSD and urinary tract infections were stronger for women, whereas other associations, like skin infections, were stronger among men. PTSD patients were also 1.3 times more likely to have meningitis, 1.7 times more likely to have the flu and 2.7 times as likely to have viral hepatitis, according to Science Daily.
The study findings suggest that PTSD diagnosis is a risk factor for several infections and that the associations are influenced by sex.