Clinically meaningful reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are associated with a decrease in the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online in JAMA Psychiatry.

Jeffrey F. Scherrer, Ph.D., from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving Veterans Health Affairs medical record data from 5,916 patients who received PTSD specialty care between fiscal years 2008 and 2012. Medical records were studied for 1,598 patients. Patients with one or more PTSD Checklist (PCL) scores of ≥50 between fiscal years 2008 and 2012 and a second score at least eight weeks later and within 12 months were included.

The researchers found that the age-adjusted cumulative incidence of type 2 diabetes was 2.6 and 5.9 percent among patients with a clinically meaningful PCL score decrease (≥20-point PCL score decrease) and without (<20-point PCL score decrease), respectively. Patients with a clinically meaningful decrease in PCL score were significantly less likely to develop type 2 diabetes after adjustment for confounding variables compared to those without a clinically meaningful decrease (hazard ratio, 0.51).

"Long-term chronic health conditions associated with posttraumatic stress disorder may be less likely to occur among patients who experience clinically meaningful symptom reduction through treatment or spontaneous improvement," the authors write.

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