Table 1.
Means and standard deviations for sociodemographic variables and clinical scores
| Trauma Controls (N = 14) | Remitted PTSD (N = 13) | Non-trauma Controls (N = 16) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender (m/f) | 6/8 | 5/8 | 6/10 | χ2 = 0.9 | ||||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | F/t | P | |
| Age | 58.64 | 7.10 | 54.00 | 10.12 | 54.06 | 10.31 | 1.15 | 0.33 |
| Years of education | 13.86 | 2.18 | 13.08 | 2.57 | 15.13 | 3.86 | 1.72 | 0.19 |
| Verbal IQ | 112.93 | 9.74 | 102.00 | 11.45 | 112.69 | 12.50 | 4.11 | 0.021 |
| Nonverbal IQ | 82.86 | 12.45 | 87.08 | 13.79 | 95.94 | 15.37 | 3.43 | 0.042 |
| Spatial recall test part A | 27.36 | 4.88 | 30.85 | 3.24 | 31.31 | 3.61 | 4.25 | 0.023 |
| Part B | 3.86 | 1.51 | 4.00 | 1.73 | 5.06 | 1.57 | 2.56 | 0.09 |
| Part A after B | 5.21 | 2.23 | 5.92 | 1.19 | 4.94 | 2.24 | 0.93 | 0.41 |
| Part A late recall | 5.00 | 2.39 | 5.15 | 2.08 | 5.75 | 1.57 | 0.58 | 0.56 |
| BDI | 5.43 | 4.13 | 6.77 | 3.17 | 5.19 | 4.49 | 0.62 | 0.54 |
| STAI- trait anxiety | 31.71 | 4.58 | 33.92 | 4.54 | 35.50 | 6.60 | 1.83 | 0.17 |
| PDS: total number of experienced traumas (lifetime) | 1.57 | 1.45 | 1.85 | 1.46 | — | — | 0.49 | 0.63 |
| PDS: number of traumatic events experienced before accident | 0.36 | 0.63 | 0.62 | 0.87 | — | — | 0.89 | 0.38 |
| PDS: number of traumatic events experienced after accident | 1.21 | 1.19 | 1.23 | 1.24 | — | — | 0.04 | 0.97 |
| CAPS total score | 2.43 | 3.90 | 6.42 | 8.23 | — | — | 1.54 | 0.15 |
| Maximal CAPS score after the accident | 10.21 | 5.24 | 33.69 | 14.26 | — | — | −5.60 | <0.001 |
| Years since accident | 9.87 | 0.37 | 11.56 | 1.74 | — | — | 3.35 | 0.004 |
| Years since remission | 7.3 | 4.9 | ||||||
PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; BDI, beck depression inventory; STAI, state-trait anxiety inventory; PDS, Post-traumatic stress diagnostic scale; CAPS, clinician-administered PTSD scale.
One-way ANOVAs (to compare all three groups) and independent samples t-tests (to compare trauma groups, only for PDS, and time since accident) were used to assess group differences. Post hoc tests, correcting for multiplicity according to Bonferroni (Bonferroni-corrected significance level of P: 0.5/3 comparisons = 0.016), were performed on variables showing significant differences in the ANOVAs to gauge specific differences between groups.
Post-hoc tests revealed no significant inter-group differences in verbal IQ: trauma controls versus remitted PTSD (P < 0.08), trauma controls versus non-trauma (P < 1.0), remitted PTSD versus non-trauma (P < 0.8).
Post-hoc tests revealed a significant difference (P < 0.03) between the trauma control and non-trauma groups in nonverbal IQ.
Post-hoc tests revealed a significant difference (P < 0.01) in spatial learning scores between the trauma control and non-trauma groups.