Frequently Asked Questions

In this nationally representative survey, lifetime PTSD prevalence was 14.4% and past-month PTSD prevalence was 7.3% among US veterans. The 95% confidence intervals were 12.6%–16.4% for lifetime PTSD and 6.0%–8.9% for past-month PTSD. Using 2024 US Census benchmarks cited by the authors, these estimates correspond to approximately 2.5 million US veterans with lifetime PTSD and about 1.2 million with past-month PTSD.

Yes. Both lifetime and past-month PTSD prevalence in 2025–2026 were significantly higher than in all prior waves of the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study conducted in 2011, 2013, and 2019–2020.

• Lifetime PTSD increased from 8.0% in 2011, 8.1% in 2013, and 9.4% in 2019–2020 to 14.4% in 2025–2026 (all P < .001).
• Past-month PTSD increased from 4.8% in 2011, 4.7% in 2013, and 5.0% in 2019–2020 to 7.3% in 2025–2026 (all P < .001).

Compared with 2019–2020 specifically, lifetime PTSD rose from 9.4% to 14.4% (z=6.30; P < .001) and past-month PTSD rose from 5.0% to 7.3% (z=4.68; P < .001).

Younger veterans had the highest PTSD prevalence, with marked differences by age, sex, race and ethnicity, combat exposure, and VA health care use.

• Age 18–44 years: lifetime PTSD 35.3% and past-month PTSD 16.1%, versus 5.7% and 2.8% in veterans aged 60 years or older.
• Women: lifetime PTSD 28.5% and past-month PTSD 12.5%, versus 12.6% and 6.7% in men.
• Combat-exposed veterans: lifetime PTSD 19.9% and past-month PTSD 12.4%, versus 11.0% and 4.3% in noncombat veterans.
• Veterans using the VA as their primary source of care: lifetime PTSD 26.4% and past-month PTSD 13.3%, versus 9.9% and 5.1% in veterans receiving care outside the VA.

Compared with White, non-Hispanic veterans, lifetime PTSD was also higher in Black, non-Hispanic veterans (15.8%), Hispanic veterans (22.1%), and veterans of other races or ethnicities (29.5%).

More than 80% of veterans reported at least 1 potentially traumatic event, and the most commonly reported exposures were natural disasters, sudden death of a close family member or friend, and witnessing someone being badly injured or killed.

• Any potentially traumatic event: 84.2%
• Natural disasters: 41.3%
• Sudden death of a close family member or friend: 40.3%
• Witnessing someone being badly injured or killed: 38.4%

The mean number of traumatic event types endorsed was 3.0 (SD=2.5; range, 0–13).

The most commonly endorsed index traumatic event was the sudden death of a close family member or friend, reported by 26.4% of veterans who identified a worst trauma. The next most common index traumas were life-threatening illness or injury (11.8%) and witnessing someone being badly injured or killed (11.5%).

These findings indicate that the trauma most closely linked to PTSD symptoms in veterans was often a noncombat event rather than a military combat event.

The highest conditional prevalence of lifetime PTSD was seen after forced sexual experiences and military-related trauma. Among veterans who identified a given event as their worst trauma, lifetime PTSD prevalence was 65.5% for forced sex during childhood, 48.9% for forced sex during adulthood, and 33.0% for military-related traumatic experiences.

In this study, these trauma categories were associated with the greatest likelihood of screening positive for lifetime PTSD when they were identified as the index trauma.

Yes. In the adjusted regression model, cumulative trauma burden was independently associated with greater functional disability, even after accounting for sociodemographic factors, military characteristics, and lifetime psychiatric and medical comorbidities. The authors concluded that trauma exposure itself may carry enduring functional burden that is not fully captured by PTSD alone.

Veterans who screened positive for past-month PTSD had markedly higher functional disability scores than those who did not: mean WHODAS 2.0 score 14.9 (SD=3.3) versus 5.1 (SD=2.9). In the fully adjusted model, this difference was large (t=44.16, d=3.3, 95% CI, 3.13–3.47).

This means current PTSD was strongly associated with substantially worse day-to-day functioning in this veteran sample.

PTSD was measured with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), using a cut score of 38 to classify probable PTSD. Participants rated 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms separately for lifetime and past-month symptoms in relation to their self-identified worst potentially traumatic event.

The authors used the cutoff of 38 to maintain comparability with earlier National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study waves. They noted that this threshold is more conservative than the more commonly used cutoff of 33 in clinical and research settings.

The main limitations were self-report assessment, use of a conservative screening cutoff, and the cross-sectional study design. PTSD symptoms, trauma exposure, and functional impairment were measured by self-report rather than clinician-administered interviews, which may introduce reporting bias.

The study also used a PCL-5 cutoff of 38 to preserve comparability with prior survey waves, although the authors noted this is higher than the more commonly used cutoff of 33. Because the data were cross-sectional, the study cannot establish causal or temporal relationships among trauma exposure, PTSD, and functional impairment.