Discharge diagnoses of 31 female veterans and 31 male veterans
hospitalized at a large urban VA medical center were examined to elucidate
possible biases in clinicians' diagnostic practices. Only one woman in the
sample was diagnosed as having posttraumatic stress disorder, compared with
seven men. All men given this diagnosis were combat veterans. Although
about half of each group had a drug-positive urine screen on admission,
only 11 women received a diagnosis of a substance use disorder, compared
with 24 men. VA clinicians may need further training and experience
assessing the presentation of PTSD and substance use disorders in
women.
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