Diagnostic overlap between acute stress disorder and PTSD in victims of violent crime.
OBJECTIVE
In a group of crime victims, the authors investigated overlap between acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses and their relative ability to predict PTSD at 6 months.


METHODS
A mixed-sex group of 157 victims of violent assault were interviewed within 1 month of the crime. At the 6-month follow-up, 87.9% were reinterviewed by telephone.


RESULTS
At baseline the rate of acute stress disorder was 19.1%, the rate of PTSD was 21.0%, and the percentage agreement between them was 95.5%. The two diagnoses were equally effective predictors of PTSD 6 months later.


CONCLUSIONS
The high level of overlap between acute stress disorder and PTSD calls into question whether, as presently formulated, they represent distinct diagnoses.
Brewin
Chris R
CR
University College London, UK. c.brewin@ucl.ac.uk
Andrews
Bernice
B
Rose
Suzanna
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D040701:Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*