Exploring the longitudinal trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder in injured trauma survivors.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to examine the longitudinal trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a sample of acutely injured hospitalized civilian trauma survivors who participated in a randomized clinical trial. Prior longitudinal descriptive research has shown that there are distinct trajectories of PTSD symptoms over time in trauma survivors. Limited clinical trial research exists that describes the patterns of the trajectories as well as the risk factors that influence the trajectories for seriously injured trauma-exposed patients.


METHODS
Semiparametric, group-based approach trajectory modeling was used to examine four group trajectories of a subset of data obtained from a previous longitudinal clinical trial. Trajectories examined included resilience, recovery, relapsing/remitting, and chronic symptom patterns. One hundred and ninety-four patients who participated in the randomized clinical trial were assessed at baseline in the days and weeks after injury and then randomized. The associations between previously identified PTSD risk factors and the four trajectories were examined.


RESULTS
The risk factors of ethnocultural minority status, psychiatric history, additional life stressors, and depressive symptoms, as well as intervention versus control group status, were found to significantly affect the probability of trajectory group membership for PTSD symptom severity.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that there is a need for early PTSD interventions that anticipate differences in injured patients' PTSD trajectory profiles. Stepped care intervention procedures may optimally address the diverse PTSD trajectory patterns observed in injured trauma survivors through the tailoring of intervention timing and dosing.
Janyce E
JE
Osenbach
Charles
C
Lewis
Barry
B
Rosenfeld
Joan
J
Russo
Leah M
LM
Ingraham
Roselyn
R
Peterson
Jin
J
Wang
Douglas F
DF
Zatzick
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062405:Motivational Interviewing; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult