The Journal of clinical psychiatry
-
The revised Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Post-Traumatic Stress recommends against long-term use of benzodiazepines to manage posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An analysis of recent trends among veterans receiving care for PTSD in the VA noted a decreasing proportion receiving benzodiazepines. The authors examined prescribing patterns for other medications to better understand the general context in which the changes in benzodiazepine prescribing have occurred in the VA. ⋯ This work highlights several clinically important trends in prescribing over the past decade among veterans with PTSD that are generally consistent with the revised VA/Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline recommendations. However, the findings illustrate the limitations of administrative data and point to a need to supplement this work with a qualitative examination of PTSD prescribing from interviews with providers to better understand the strategies used to make medication management decisions.
-
Clinical practice guidelines issued by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense caution against benzodiazepine use among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of insufficient evidence for efficacy and emerging safety concerns. We examined recent trends in benzodiazepine prescribing among veterans with PTSD in terms of frequency of use, duration of use, and dose. ⋯ Decreasing benzodiazepine use among veterans with PTSD is encouraging. However, the frequency of use remains above 30%, and focused interventions may be required to achieve further reductions. Given the growing number of veterans being diagnosed and treated for PTSD, minimizing benzodiazepine exposure will remain a vital policy issue for the VA.
-
Survivors of traumatic events of an interpersonal nature typically have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than survivors of noninterpersonal traumatic events. Little is known about potential differences in the nature or trajectory of PTSD symptoms in survivors of these different types of traumatic events. The current study aimed to identify the specific symptom profile of survivors of interpersonal and noninterpersonal trauma, and to examine changes in differences in the symptom profile over time. ⋯ Interpersonal trauma results in more severe PTSD symptoms in the early aftermath of trauma. Over the course of time, the distinctive persisting symptoms following interpersonal trauma involve fear-based symptoms, which suggest fear conditioning may be instrumental in persistent interpersonal PTSD.