Profiling posttraumatic functional impairment.

Many individuals who have been exposed to psychological trauma suffer from impaired functioning, regardless of whether they have PTSD. Our purpose was to identify a subset of PTSD symptoms linked to functional impairment to a) improve the likelihood that individuals with posttraumatic impairment receive treatment, and b) offer a method to assess cost-burden of trauma history in epidemiological studies. We examined patterns of trauma-related symptoms in two independent community surveys (N=1002 and 630). Rank ordering of symptoms and their associations with impairment guided construction of an impairment-related profile in the first data set. The profile was then tested in the second data set. The derived symptom profile, consisting of intense recollections and/or emotional symptoms upon exposure to reminders, plus one or more of numbing/detachment, avoidance, sleep problems, concentration problems, or hypervigilance, detected the majority (88% and 74%) of persons with posttraumatic functional impairment. The symptom profile can help identify traumatized individuals who may benefit from treatment but do not necessarily meet criteria for PTSD.

Duke Scholars

Author Jonathan R.T. Davidson Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychol ...