Findings of a study published in JAMA Network Open recommend written exposure therapy (WET) to be a more effective remedy method for posttraumatic pressure disorder than cognitive processing therapy (CPT).
Active-duty United States military personnel (N=169) stationed at 2 bases in Texas searching for remedy for PTSD had been recruited for this study amongst 2016 and 2020. Participants had been randomized to obtain cognitive processing therapy (n=84) or written exposure therapy (n=85). CPT comprised 12 biweekly 1-hour sessions which focused on trauma working with progressive worksheets. WET comprised 5 weekly 45 minute to hour-extended sessions for the duration of which time the participant wrote for 30 minutes about their trauma and the therapist checked whether or not the patient had any challenges finishing the process.
The military personnel had been 80.5% guys, aged imply 33.65 (regular deviation [SD], 8.43) years, 34.9% had been White, 33.7% had been Black, 24.9% had been Hispanic, 76.9% had been married, 61.5% had some college, .7% had in no way been deployed, and they had been in the military for 155.31 (SD, 89.84) months.
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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) PTSD Scale scores had been 36.71 (SD, 1.12) and 34.24 (SD, 1.13) at baseline for the WET and CPT cohorts, respectively. At 10 weeks, PTSD Scale scores had changed by -5.16 (SD, 1.17) and -9.12 (SD, 1.28) points for every single group, respectively. By week 30, there was small distinction in the score adjustments amongst cohorts (distinction, .33 regular error [SE], 2.58).
At week 30, 37.5% of the CPT and 47.2% of the WET participants exhibited a reputable alter in PTSD severity, as defined by a 12-point alter in Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 score.
Most participants (54%) knowledgeable adverse events. The events had been mostly psychiatric symptoms of anxiousness, depression, and sleep disturbances.
CPT recipients had been more probably to drop out of the study (45.2% vs 23.5% odds ratio [OR], 2.69 95% CI, 1.39-5.20).
This study was restricted by its somewhat higher drop-out price and the lack of extended-term outcomes.
The study authors concluded, “the option of a brief PTSD treatment is likely to be of high value in the military setting, where military service operations may limit treatment engagement. One clear pattern of findings in this study is the high variability of treatment outcomes among service members. Better understanding of the factors associated with who does and who does not benefit from PTSD treatment is an important direction for the field.”
Disclosure: Multiple authors declared affiliations with business. Please refer to the original report for a complete list of disclosures.
Reference
Sloan DM, Marx BP, Resick PA, et al. Effect of written exposure therapy vs cognitive processing therapy on increasing treatment efficiency among military service members with post-traumatic stress disorder: a randomized noninferiority trial. JAMA Netw Open. 20225(1):e2140911. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.40911
