Table 1. Participant Characteristics.
|
PTSD patients (n=36) |
Healthy controls (n=40) |
Statistics |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males (n=21) | Females (n=16) | Males (n=20) | Females (n=20) | Males | Females | |||||
| Age, in years | 42.29 (9.83) | 37.56 (9.78) | 41.35 (10.62) | 38.65 (9.48) | t(39)=−0.293 p=0.771 | t(34)=0.337 p=0.738 | ||||
| Years of service | 16.29 (10.82) | 14.53 (10.74) | 18.42 (10.05) | 18.60 (9.84) | t(39)=0.655 p=0.516 | t(33)=1.163 p=0.253 | ||||
| Educational level | ||||||||||
| Low | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | χ2=0.006 | χ2=1.694 | ||||
| Middle | 14 (67%) | 15 (93%) | 16 (85%) | 17 (90%) | p=0.939 | p=0.193 | ||||
| High | 7 (33%) | 1 (7%) | 4 (15%) | 3 (10%) | ||||||
| CAPS total score (PTSD symptom severity) | 68.05 (15.62) | 67.56 (11.83) | 4.7 (4.79) | 4.45 (4.66) | t(39)=−17.728 p<0.0001 | t(34)=−21.123 p<0.0001 | ||||
| State anxiety (STAI) | ||||||||||
| Placebo session | 47.14 (9.52) | 47.37 (6.89) | 28.77 (4.12) | 30.66 (3.66) | t(39)=−8.085 p<0.0001 | t(34)=10.449 p<0.0001 | ||||
| Oxytocin session | 47.52 (10.32) | 48.32 (11.34) | 29.33 (2.58) | 30.80 (4.52) | t(39)=−7.828 p<0.0001 | t(34)=−5.805 p<0.0001 | ||||
| Current comorbidity | ||||||||||
| MDD | 4 (19%) | 4 (25%) | NA | NA | NA | NA | ||||
| Dysthymia | 2 (9.5%) | 1 (6.3%) | ||||||||
| Panic disorder | 1 (4.8%) | — | ||||||||
| Specific phobia | 1 (4.8%) | — | ||||||||
| Police life events scale, number of different types of experiences | 22.50 (5.95) | 13.50 (4.49) | 20.45 (6.42) | 19.4 (7.27) | t(39)=−1.047 p=0.302 | t(34)=2.114 p=0.042a | ||||
| Early trauma inventory, number of different types of experiences | 6.09 (4.55) | 5.25 (5.18) | 3.65 (2.35) | 4.25 (4.82) | t(39)=−2.18 p=0.037a | t(34)=−0.598 p=0.554 | ||||
| Hormonal contraceptive use | ||||||||||
| None | NA | 7 (44%) | NA | 8 (40%) | NA | χ2=0.690 | ||||
| Hormonal | 8 (50%) | 9 (45%) | 0.708 | |||||||
| Menopause | 1 (6%) | 3 (15%) | ||||||||
| T1 | T2 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T2 | Session × groupb | Session × groupc | |
| Time medication task, in minutes | 44.44 (5.44) | 45.61 (4.50) | 44.88 (4.15) | 45.00 (3.83) | 44.20 (5.05) | 45.02 (4.21) | 45.55 (7.82) | 42.90 (5.13) | F(1,39)<0.0001 p=0.997 | F(1,39)=34,225 p=0.280 |
Abbreviations: CAPS, Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale; ETI, early trauma inventory; MDD, major depressive disorder; PLES, police life events scale; STAI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (state-version, administered before intranasal spray administration). Mean (±SD) or N (percentage) of demographic variables are shown for male and female PTSD patients and trauma-exposed controls. Differences between PTSD patients and trauma-exposed controls were tested for males and females separately. Bold values indicate significant between-group differences (P<0.05).
Significant at p<0.05 level (two-tailed).
Main effect of session: F(1,39)=0.656, p=0.423; main effect of group: F(1,39)=0.007 p=0.935.
Main effect of session: F(1,34)=0.998, p=0.325; main effect of group: F(1,34)=0.261, p=0.613.