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Veterans with a clinically meaningful reduction in symptoms of PTSD are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, research from a retrospective study shows.
“We cautiously speculate that normalization of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cortisol levels could be one mechanism behind our results,” wrote Jeffrey F. Scherrer, PhD, and colleagues. “PTSD is associated with inflammation, which may in turn be associated with increased risk for [type 2 diabetes].” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Using medical record data from the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Scherrer and colleagues identified 5,916 patients with PTSD who visited a VHA medical center between 2008 and 2012, and scored at least 50 points or higher on the PTSD Checklist (PCL) followed by another PCL score at least 8 months after the previous score. The mean age of patients in the study was 42.1 years, the cohort consisted of 84.3% men, and 66.3% patients were white. PCL score reduction was deemed clinically meaningful if there was a decrease of 20 points or more in the score, reported Dr. Scherrer of the department of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University and colleagues.
Patients who were older (mean 43.6 years vs. mean 41.7 years; P = .02) and those who underwent minimally adequate duration of PTSD psychotherapy (P less than .001) were significantly more likely to have a clinically meaningful decrease in PCL scores. Patients who received antidepressants (P = .004) or antipsychotics (P less than .001) were significantly more likely to have less than clinically meaningful decreases in PCL scores. Factors that put patients at significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes included older age (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.07; P less than .001), black race/ethnicity (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.23-2.83; P = .004), hypertension (HR, 3.46; 95% CI, 2.33-5.16), hyperlipidemia (HR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.91-4.16), and obesity (HR, 3.32; 95% CI, 2.12-5.21) (all P less than .001).
Minimally adequate duration of PTSD psychotherapy and high use of primary care health services also were associated with developing type 2 diabetes.
In a Cox proportional hazards regression model, patients with clinically meaningful decreases in PCL scores had significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and those results remained consistent after adjusting for age, calculating the results using weighted data, and factoring in hypertension, obesity, and hyperlipidemia.
“This result was independent of numerous demographics and psychiatric and physical comorbidities,” said Dr. Scherrer and colleagues. “The association was also independent of the number of PTSD psychotherapy sessions used, suggesting that a healthy adherer effect, or a general orientation to improve health, is unlikely to explain our observations.”
Dr. Scherrer and colleagues cited several limitations, such as unmeasured confounding and the difficulty of generalizing the results beyond PTSD patients in a VHA setting. In addition, the researchers were unable to calculate the lifetime effect of reduced PTSD symptoms and incidence of type 2 diabetes.
This study was funded in part by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Four authors reported receiving one or more grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute during the study period. Some authors reported receiving other support from Noblis Therapeutics and Saint Louis University both during and outside the study period. The other authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Scherrer JF et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019 Aug 21. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2096.
Veterans with a clinically meaningful reduction in symptoms of PTSD are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, research from a retrospective study shows.
“We cautiously speculate that normalization of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cortisol levels could be one mechanism behind our results,” wrote Jeffrey F. Scherrer, PhD, and colleagues. “PTSD is associated with inflammation, which may in turn be associated with increased risk for [type 2 diabetes].” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Using medical record data from the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Scherrer and colleagues identified 5,916 patients with PTSD who visited a VHA medical center between 2008 and 2012, and scored at least 50 points or higher on the PTSD Checklist (PCL) followed by another PCL score at least 8 months after the previous score. The mean age of patients in the study was 42.1 years, the cohort consisted of 84.3% men, and 66.3% patients were white. PCL score reduction was deemed clinically meaningful if there was a decrease of 20 points or more in the score, reported Dr. Scherrer of the department of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University and colleagues.
Patients who were older (mean 43.6 years vs. mean 41.7 years; P = .02) and those who underwent minimally adequate duration of PTSD psychotherapy (P less than .001) were significantly more likely to have a clinically meaningful decrease in PCL scores. Patients who received antidepressants (P = .004) or antipsychotics (P less than .001) were significantly more likely to have less than clinically meaningful decreases in PCL scores. Factors that put patients at significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes included older age (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.07; P less than .001), black race/ethnicity (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.23-2.83; P = .004), hypertension (HR, 3.46; 95% CI, 2.33-5.16), hyperlipidemia (HR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.91-4.16), and obesity (HR, 3.32; 95% CI, 2.12-5.21) (all P less than .001).
Minimally adequate duration of PTSD psychotherapy and high use of primary care health services also were associated with developing type 2 diabetes.
In a Cox proportional hazards regression model, patients with clinically meaningful decreases in PCL scores had significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and those results remained consistent after adjusting for age, calculating the results using weighted data, and factoring in hypertension, obesity, and hyperlipidemia.
“This result was independent of numerous demographics and psychiatric and physical comorbidities,” said Dr. Scherrer and colleagues. “The association was also independent of the number of PTSD psychotherapy sessions used, suggesting that a healthy adherer effect, or a general orientation to improve health, is unlikely to explain our observations.”
Dr. Scherrer and colleagues cited several limitations, such as unmeasured confounding and the difficulty of generalizing the results beyond PTSD patients in a VHA setting. In addition, the researchers were unable to calculate the lifetime effect of reduced PTSD symptoms and incidence of type 2 diabetes.
This study was funded in part by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Four authors reported receiving one or more grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute during the study period. Some authors reported receiving other support from Noblis Therapeutics and Saint Louis University both during and outside the study period. The other authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Scherrer JF et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019 Aug 21. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2096.
Veterans with a clinically meaningful reduction in symptoms of PTSD are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, research from a retrospective study shows.
“We cautiously speculate that normalization of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cortisol levels could be one mechanism behind our results,” wrote Jeffrey F. Scherrer, PhD, and colleagues. “PTSD is associated with inflammation, which may in turn be associated with increased risk for [type 2 diabetes].” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Using medical record data from the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Scherrer and colleagues identified 5,916 patients with PTSD who visited a VHA medical center between 2008 and 2012, and scored at least 50 points or higher on the PTSD Checklist (PCL) followed by another PCL score at least 8 months after the previous score. The mean age of patients in the study was 42.1 years, the cohort consisted of 84.3% men, and 66.3% patients were white. PCL score reduction was deemed clinically meaningful if there was a decrease of 20 points or more in the score, reported Dr. Scherrer of the department of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University and colleagues.
Patients who were older (mean 43.6 years vs. mean 41.7 years; P = .02) and those who underwent minimally adequate duration of PTSD psychotherapy (P less than .001) were significantly more likely to have a clinically meaningful decrease in PCL scores. Patients who received antidepressants (P = .004) or antipsychotics (P less than .001) were significantly more likely to have less than clinically meaningful decreases in PCL scores. Factors that put patients at significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes included older age (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.07; P less than .001), black race/ethnicity (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.23-2.83; P = .004), hypertension (HR, 3.46; 95% CI, 2.33-5.16), hyperlipidemia (HR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.91-4.16), and obesity (HR, 3.32; 95% CI, 2.12-5.21) (all P less than .001).
Minimally adequate duration of PTSD psychotherapy and high use of primary care health services also were associated with developing type 2 diabetes.
In a Cox proportional hazards regression model, patients with clinically meaningful decreases in PCL scores had significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and those results remained consistent after adjusting for age, calculating the results using weighted data, and factoring in hypertension, obesity, and hyperlipidemia.
“This result was independent of numerous demographics and psychiatric and physical comorbidities,” said Dr. Scherrer and colleagues. “The association was also independent of the number of PTSD psychotherapy sessions used, suggesting that a healthy adherer effect, or a general orientation to improve health, is unlikely to explain our observations.”
Dr. Scherrer and colleagues cited several limitations, such as unmeasured confounding and the difficulty of generalizing the results beyond PTSD patients in a VHA setting. In addition, the researchers were unable to calculate the lifetime effect of reduced PTSD symptoms and incidence of type 2 diabetes.
This study was funded in part by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Four authors reported receiving one or more grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute during the study period. Some authors reported receiving other support from Noblis Therapeutics and Saint Louis University both during and outside the study period. The other authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Scherrer JF et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019 Aug 21. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2096.
FROM JAMA PSYCHIATRY