Table 1. Participant Characteristics of Combat Controls, and Remitted and Persistent PTSD Patients.
| Combat controls (N=23) | Remitted patients (N=21) | Persistent patients (N=22) | Test statistic | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 37.3±10.4 | 35.2±9.3 | 38.3±8.9 | F=0.58 | 0.56 |
| Education level (ISCED) | |||||
| Own | 3.3±2.0 | 3.7±1.4 | 3.1±0.9 | F=0.67 | 0.52 |
| Father | 3.8±1.8 | 3.7±1.7 | 3.5±2.2 | F=0.13 | 0.88 |
| Mother | 2.7±1.5 | 2.7±1.5 | 2.2±1.5 | F=0.73 | 0.47 |
| Months since deployment | 78.4±83.3 | 89.0±109.9 | 114.7±96.9 | F=0.84 | 0.44 |
| Number of missions | 2.5±1.4 | 3.1±4.3 | 2.2±1.6 | F=0.66 | 0.52 |
| (1/2/3 />3) | (8/7/4/6) | (8/5/4/4) | (11/3/4/4) | ||
| Blast exposure (number) | 3 | 2 | 3 | χ2=0.18 | 0.92 |
| Early traumatic experiences | 3.1±3.0 | 4.2±3.7 | 5.2±4.7 | F=1.55 | 0.22 |
| PTSD symptoms pretreatment | |||||
| Re-experiencing (CAPS B) | 0.7±1.2 | 21.9±4.8 | 23.7±5.8 | F=211.4 | <0.001 |
| Avoiding (CAPS C) | 1.0±2.3 | 21.9±9.8 | 25.1±8.9 | F=71.1 | <0.001 |
| Hyperarousal (CAPS D) | 3.2±3.1 | 22.5±5.3* | 25.7±4.1* | F=203.3 | <0.001* |
| Total (CAPS Total) | 4.8±4.5 | 66.3±12.6* | 74.4±13.1* | F=308.4 | <0.001* |
| PTSD symptoms post-treatment | |||||
| Re-experiencing (CAPS B) | 1.4±2.2 | 6.7±6.4* | 21.9±6.3* | F=95.6 | <0.001* |
| Avoiding (CAPS C) | 0.6±1.6 | 6.4±5.5* | 20.7±8.3* | F=75.6 | <0.001* |
| Hyperarousal (CAPS D) | 3.2±2.7 | 11.2±5.9* | 23.4±5.8* | F=98.3 | <0.001* |
| Total (CAPS Total) | 5.3±4.2 | 24.3±14.1* | 66.0±15.3* | F=154.6 | <0.001* |
Abbreviations: CAPS, Clinician Administered PTSD scale (Blake et al, 1990); ISCED, International Standard Classification of Education (Schneider, 2013); PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder.
Data are presented as means±SD.
Values with an asterisk (*) indicate that the remitted and persistent patients differ significantly.
Early traumatic experiences were investigated with the Early Trauma Inventory (Bremner et al, 2007).
The p-value used to indicate significance is p<0.05.