This Practice Parameter reviews the evidence from research and clinical experience and highlights significant advances in the assessment and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder since the previous Parameter was published in 1998. It highlights the importance of early identification of posttraumatic stress disorder, the importance of gathering information from parents and children, and the...

BACKGROUND This study investigated attentional allocation in 39 Vietnam combat veterans, 25 with and 14 without posttraumatic stress disorder, assessing P300 amplitudes and latencies during both three-tone and novelty "oddball" tasks. METHODS The three-tone oddball task consisted of three stimuli: frequent tones (85%), rare target tones (7.5%), and rare distractor tones (7.5%). The novelty od...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent anxiety disorder. Symptoms present shortly after an exposure to a traumatic event, abate with time in the majority of those who initially express them, and leave a significant minority with chronic PTSD. PTSD may be treated with pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy. Treatment of the early expressions of the disorder constitutes a separate domain o...

Two months after the December 2004 tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India, we surveyed adults aged 18 years or older in a severely affected coastal village using structured interviews and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder was 12.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]=9.4%, 17.1%), and odds of posttraumatic stress disorder were higher among individuals with no hou...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the sociodemographic and disease-related variables associated with the premature discontinuation of psychiatric outpatient treatment after discharge among patients with noncombat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who were discharged with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder. ...

OBJECTIVE to identify the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder, trait and state anxiety, and intimate partner violence during pregnancy. METHOD observational, cross-sectional study developed with 358 pregnant women. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Civilian Version was used, as well as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and an adapted version of the instrument used i...

Overuse of sedation in patients treated with mechanical ventilation can increase duration of ventilation, duration of delirium, and time to discharge. Although current principles of care include implementation of sedation protocols and/or daily interruptions in sedation to improve patients' outcomes, these strategies remain underused. Historically, a barrier to use of protocols has been a perce...

BACKGROUND Several psychological sequelae have been identified in civilian war survivors. However, little is known about the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and their relationship to trauma in this population. METHOD Fifty-one adult civilian survivors of the Kosovo War (28 males) who had immigrated to Switzerland completed the Revised Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory Scale, the Post...

BACKGROUND Changes in world assumptions are a fundamental concept within theories that explain posttraumatic stress disorder. The objective of the present study was to gain a greater understanding of how changes in world assumptions are related to quality of life and posttraumatic stress symptoms after a natural disaster. METHODS A longitudinal study of 574 Norwegian adults who survived the S...