Citation

North CS, Oliver J. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2013; 48(8): 1189-1197.

Affiliation

The VA North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX, USA, carol.north@utsouthwestern.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00127-012-0639-x

PMID

23269398

Abstract

PURPOSE: Identification of consistent predictors of the temporal course of PTSD has been hampered by non-uniform definitions of onset and remission. Onset and remission of PTSD based on different definitions were examined in a large database of systematically assessed disaster survivors. METHODS: Directly exposed survivors of 10 disasters were studied within approximately 3 months of the disasters and again 1-3 years later, using consistent methods including full diagnostic assessment, allowing aggregation of data from different disasters into a unified database of 716 survivors. RESULTS: Application of existing definitions of PTSD onset and remission uncovered problems with definitions based on diagnostic threshold as well as onset/remission of symptoms. Few predictors of timing of onset and PTSD remission were identified. Regardless, PTSD symptom group C was found to be pivotal to processes involved in both onset and remission of the disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Research findings related to the onset and remission of PTSD are highly dependent on the definition used. Both symptom-based and diagnostic threshold-based definitions are problematic. Definitions of the onset and remission of PTSD might be more effectively based on the onset and remission of group C symptoms.

Language: en