Prevalence of trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms among the Icelandic population: gender and regional differences

Aim: The primary aim of this cross-sectional study was to provide descriptive data about the lifetime prevalence of trauma exposure with a particular focus on sexual violence and natural disasters and to assess the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Icelandic population. In addition, the aim was to investigate whether PTSD symptoms, trauma types and prevalence differed by gender and geographical location.Method: A representative sample of the population between the ages of 18 and 80 years was randomly selected from the Icelandic National Registrar. The study included a total of 1766 participants consisting of 930 (52.7%) women and 836 (47.3%) men, with an overall mean age of 49.9 years (standard deviation 16.1). Participants were contacted by phone and asked questions from the Lifetime Events Checklist (LEC-5) to assess lifetime exposure to traumatic events. Individuals who had experienced traumatic events completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) to assess PTSD symptoms.Results: Exposure to trauma is common among the Icelandic population, with 84.3% of the participants experiencing at least one kind of trauma. Of those exposed to trauma, 10.5% fulfilled criteria indicating a higher risk of PTSD. The prevalence of sexual violence and other unwanted sexual experiences was relatively high (16.2% and 24.4%, respectively) compared with other national studies. Women were almost four times more likely than men to have been exposed to sexual violence (24.9% vs 6.4%), and were more likely to have been exposed to other unwanted sexual experience (35.1% vs 12.4%, respectively). Exposure to natural disasters is frequent but with great geographical variation.Conclusions: This study highlights the high prevalence of trauma in Iceland, revealing significant gender disparities in sexual violence and geographical variations in natural disaster exposure.