Researchers in Denmark have found that post-traumatic stress disorder rates peak later in women, ages 51 to 55, than in men, ages 41 to 45.

It has been reported that researchers Ask Elklit and Daniel N. Ditlevsen of the University of Southern Denmark and Odense University Hospital in Denmark and colleagues collected data from 6,548 participants in previous Danish or Nordic PTSD studies for their investigation of gender difference in the lifespan distribution of PTSD.

Published in the Annals of General Psychiatry, the study found that the total prevalence of PTSD was 21.3 percent and was twice as common in women as in men -- with men and women peaking in the risk a decade apart from each other.

Elkit said in a statement, "This difference is of particular interest and needs to be investigated further in future research in order to develop more thorough explanations for the effect. People now live for an increased number of years compared to that of previous generations, and as a result individuals have more years in which they can be affected by the negative consequences that can follow traumatic experiences. It is therefore important to pay attention to the risk of PTSD in relation to different stages in the lifespan." (With Inputs from Agencies)