Are Gender Differences in DSM-5 PTSD Symptomatology Explained by Sexual Trauma?

Although many studies have assessed gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence, few examine individual PTSD symptoms (PTSSs). Hypothesizing that trauma differences explain many gender differences in symptomatology, this is the first known study to adjust PTSSs for trauma type, and to compare gender differences in those with sexual traumas. Using a cross-sectional survey methodology in a sample of adult outpatients (n = 775), we examined gender, trauma type, PTSSs, suicide, alcohol, and tobacco. Among those with trauma (n = 483), women generally had more severe symptoms than men, but after adjusting for trauma type, only physical reactivity (p = .0002), excessive startle (p = .0005), external avoidance (p = .0007), internal avoidance (p = .0008), psychological reactivity (p = .0009), and suicide attempts (p = .001) remained significantly worse among women, whereas men more commonly reported alcohol problems (p = .007). Among those with PTSD (n = 164), there were no significant PTSS gender differences. Those with sexual trauma had worse symptoms (particularly amnesia) compared with non-sexual trauma (p < .0001 for PTSD diagnosis and total severity), including within each gender. Among those with sexual trauma (n = 157), men had worse recklessness (p = .004) and more commonly reported tobacco (p = .02), whereas women more commonly attempted suicide (p = .02) and had worse avoidance (p = .04). However, when isolating the effects of sexual trauma beyond other traumas, there were no significant symptom difference-in-differences between genders. Our findings suggest that, while women have higher PTSD rates, men with PTSD present similarly. In addition, while women have higher sexual trauma rates, men may have similarly severe responses. Most gender differences in PTSD presentation appear to be explained by trauma type, particularly women having higher rates of sexual trauma. We discuss potential biopsychosocial explanations.

Analysis and visualization of H7 influenza using genomic, evolutionary and geographic information in a modular web service.

We have reported previously on use of a web-based application, Supramap (http://supramap.org) for the study of biogeographic, genotypic, and phenotypic evolution. Using Supramap we have developed maps of the spread of drug-resistant influenza and host shifts in H1N1 and H5N1 influenza and coronaviruses such as SARS. Here we report on another zoonotic pathogen, H7 influenza, and provide an update on the implementation of Supramap as a web service. We find that the emergence of pathogenic strains of H7 is labile with many transitions from high to low pathogenicity, and from low to high pathogenicity. We use Supramap to put these events in a temporal and geospatial context. We identify several lineages of H7 influenza with biomarkers of high pathogenicity in regions that have not been reported in the scientific literature. The original implementation of Supramap was built with tightly coupled client and server software. Now we have decoupled the components to provide a modular web service for POY (http://poyws.org) that can be consumed by a data provider to create a novel application. To demonstrate the web service, we have produced an application, Geogenes (http://geogenes.org). Unlike in Supramap, in which the user is required to create and upload data files, in Geogenes the user works from a graphical interface to query an underlying dataset. Geogenes demonstrates how the web service can provide underlying processing for any sequence and metadata database. © The Willi Hennig Society 2012.