PTSD prevalence among Korean police officers: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Background Police officers are occupationally predisposed to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of repeated and varied traumatic exposures inherent to law enforcement. Large-scale data characterizing PTSD prevalence by work function and traumatic event type among Korean police officers remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of probable PTSD, depression and suicide-related outcomes among Korean police officers relative to the general population, and to examine how specific work functions and traumatic event types differentially contribute to PTSD vulnerability. Methods We analyzed data from 6065 police officers who completed a nationwide questionnaire (October–November 2022, commissioned by the Korean National Police Agency) and 2533 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2020 participants aged 25–60 years with valid working-hour data. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and PTSD symptom severity using the Korean version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-K). Analyses included chi-square tests, independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post-hoc test, and crude odds ratios (ORs) derived from 2 × 2 contingency tables. Results Among officers reporting major traumatic event experience ( n = 5249), 29.9% were classified as probable PTSD high-risk (IES-R-K ≥ 25) and 13.7% as at-risk (18–24), versus 13.4% and 13.2% among those without such experience ( p < .001). Treatment-requiring depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 15) was more prevalent among police officers than in the general population (3.6% vs. 1.0%; OR 3.72, 95% CI 2.45–5.64). Suicide attempts were 3.5-fold higher (0.7% vs. 0.2%; OR 3.61, 95% CI 1.42–9.12). Traffic Investigation, Community Safety and Investigation (Intelligence/Economic/Cyber) showed the highest IES-R-K scores. Vexatious Complaints Response was the most psychologically impactful traumatic event (58.85% reporting significant trauma), exceeding Homicide Cases (46.14%). Conclusions Korean police officers face substantially elevated risk of PTSD, depression and suicidal behavior. Differential PTSD vulnerability by work function, and the disproportionate psychological impact of chronic stressors such as Vexatious Complaints Response, highlight the need for function-specific, multi-layered mental health interventions within the Korean National Police Agency. Because between-group comparisons were unadjusted for demographic and occupational differences, the estimates should be interpreted as crude associations.