Inconsistency in reporting potentially traumatic events.
BACKGROUND
Research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relies mainly on self-reports of exposure to trauma and its consequences.


OBJECTIVE
To analyse the consistency of the reporting of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) over time.


METHODS
A community-based cohort, representative of the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, was interviewed at the ages of 34-35 years (in 1993) and 40-41 years (in 1999). A semi-structured diagnostic interview, including a section on PTSD, was administered.


RESULTS
Of the 342 participants who attended both interviews, 169 reported some PTE (1993, n=110; 1999, n=120). In 1999, 56 participants (33.1%) reported for the first time PTEs that actually occurred before 1993, but which had not been reported in the 1993 interview. In total, 68 participants (40.2%) who had reported a PTE in 1993 did not report it in 1999. The overall frequency of inconsistent reporting was 63.9%.


CONCLUSIONS
The high level of inconsistency in the reporting of PTEs has implications for therapy as well as for research.
Hepp
Urs
U
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Zurich, Culmannstrasse 8, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. urshepp@bluewin.ch
Gamma
Alex
A
Milos
Gabriella
G
Eich
Dominique
D
Ajdacic-Gross
Vladeta
V
Rössler
Wulf
W
Angst
Jules
J
Schnyder
Ulrich
U
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D014342:Truth Disclosure