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AI could help hospitals diagnose PTSD in real time : Short Wave

NPR News •
November 13, 2026 • 08:00 AM
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Every year, millions of people in the United States develop PTSD from a traumatic event—like a car crash, an assault or freak accident. A lot of those people end up in the ER answering the same question: “What brought you to the emergency department today?” Now, a research team in New York has an AI model that can use patients’ answers and demographics to spit out one number that tells medical staff how likely a patient is to develop PTSD a month later.The work – published in the journal Nature Communications – could help an often-overloaded emergency department team prevent mental health disorders before they start. Interested in more science in the news? Email us your question at [email protected] public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

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Every year, millions of people in the United States develop PTSD from a traumatic event—like a car crash, an assault or freak accident. A lot of those people end up in the ER answering the same question: "What brought you to the emergency department today?" Now, a research team in New York has an AI model that can use patients' answers and demographics to spit out one number that tells medical staff how likely a patient is to develop PTSD a month later .

The work – published in the journal Nature Communications – could help an often-overloaded emergency department team prevent mental health disorders before they start.

Interested in more science in the news? Email us your question at [email protected] .

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show's perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org .

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts .

This episode was produced by Berly McCoy. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Annlie Huang.

NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews. Anyone who makes such an offer or request is not an NPR employee and does not represent NPR.

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