A personalized index to inform selection of a trauma-focused or non-trauma-focused treatment for PTSD.
PTSD treatment guidelines recommend several treatments with extensive empirical support, including Prolonged Exposure (PE), a trauma-focused treatment and Present-Centered Therapy (PCT), a non-trauma-focused therapy. Research to inform treatment selection has yielded inconsistent findings with single prognostic variables that are difficult to integrate into clinical decision-making. We examined whether a combination of prognostic factors can predict different benefits in a trauma-focused vs. a non-trauma-focused psychotherapy. We applied a multi-method variable selection procedure and developed a prognostic index (PI) with a sample of 267 female veterans and active-duty service members (mean age 45; SD = 9.37; 53% White) with current PTSD who began treatment in a randomized clinical trial comparing PE and PCT. We conducted linear regressions predicting outcomes (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale score) with treatment condition, the PI, and the interaction between the PI and treatment condition. The interaction between treatment type and PI moderated treatment response, moderated post-treatment symptom severity, b = 0.30, SEb = 0.15 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.60], p = .049. For the 64% of participants with the best prognoses, PE resulted in better post-treatment outcomes; for the remainder, there was no difference. Use of a PI may lead to optimized patient outcomes and greater confidence when selecting trauma-focused treatments.
['Stirman|Shannon Wiltsey|SW|', 'Cohen|Zachary D|ZD|', 'Lunney|Carole A|CA|', 'DeRubeis|Robert J|RJ|', 'Wiley|Joshua F|JF|', 'Schnurr|Paula P|PP|']
D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008875:Middle Aged D011613:Psychotherapy D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic D016896:Treatment Outcome D014728:Veterans
PTSD Treatment selection Evidence-based psychotherapy