Predicting the efficacy of recommended treatments for veterans with PTSD: A meta-regression analysis

PTSD places an on-going financial and individual burden on the health-care system. It is imperative to provide effective treatment. However, meta-analyses show that veterans receive less benefit from treatment than other PTSD populations (e.g., Goodson’s et al., 2011). This presentation provides data of the first meta-analysis to identify PTSD treatment predictors for traumatized veterans, using data from first-choice intervention studies. A systematic literature search identified 38 eligible studies. Interventions that offer group therapy fare worse compared to interventions that consist of—or incorporate—individual psychotherapy. EMDR and Stress Management Therapy are less effective than Exposure Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy. Interventions using a non-random treatment allocation, and increases in the number of received sessions and pretreatment symptom severity, predicted larger PTSD treatment improvements. Comorbid substance abuse or dependence had a negative effect on treatment outcome. After using multivariate regression analysis, only pretreatment symptom severity and a group modality remained significant predictors. The model accounted for 42.3% of the variance in PTSD treatment effect size. The meta-analysis highlights several important predictive patient and therapy characteristics that will be discussed alongside their clinical and guideline implications.

Conference

English

Joris Haagen
Geert Smid
Jeroen Knipscher
Rolf Kleber

Haagen, J.,  Smid, G.,  Knipscheer, J., &  Kleber, R. (2015, November). Predicting the efficacy of recommended treatments for veterans with PTSD: A meta-regression analysis.  Presentation at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 30th Annual Meeting, Miami, FL