Leeds Metropolitan University, Psychology, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, Leeds, UK.
Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jun 30;188(1):51-7. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.10.002. Epub 2010 Oct 30.
More research is needed to further our understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD) and psychiatric co-morbidity following stroke, especially the trajectories of such symptoms over time. Previous studies suggest that exposure to a traumatic experience such as stroke is not sufficient to explain the etiology of PTSD. Alexithymia may be involved, but its relationships with PTSD and psychiatric co-morbidity following stroke remains unclear. This study aims to address these knowledge gaps. While in hospital, stroke patients (n=90) completed questionnaires assessing PTSD symptoms, psychiatric co-morbidity, alexithymia and physical disability. PTSD symptoms and psychiatric co-morbidity were re-assessed approximately 3 months post-stroke (n=78). The severity of post-stroke PTSD did not change significantly over time, while psychiatric co-morbidity reduced significantly. Alexithymia, in particular difficulty in identifying feelings, was associated with severity of post-stroke PTSD and psychiatric co-morbidity at baseline, but after adjusting for these, there was no significance 3 months post-stroke. We suggest that patients' difficulty in identifying feelings had a role to play in influencing relatively short-term rather than long-term PTSD and co-morbid psychiatric symptoms. Alternatively, PTSD could be interpreted as driving the alexithymic characteristics.
需要更多的研究来进一步了解创伤后应激障碍症状（PTSD）和中风后的精神共病，特别是随着时间的推移这些症状的轨迹。以前的研究表明，暴露于创伤性经历（如中风）不足以解释 PTSD 的病因。可能涉及到述情障碍，但它与中风后 PTSD 和精神共病的关系仍不清楚。本研究旨在解决这些知识空白。中风患者（n=90）在住院期间完成了评估 PTSD 症状、精神共病、述情障碍和身体残疾的问卷。大约在中风后 3 个月（n=78）重新评估了 PTSD 症状和精神共病。中风后 PTSD 的严重程度随时间没有显著变化，而精神共病显著减少。述情障碍，特别是识别情感的困难，与中风后 PTSD 和精神病共病的严重程度相关，但在调整这些因素后，3 个月后没有意义。我们认为，患者识别情感的困难在影响相对短期而不是长期 PTSD 和合并精神症状方面发挥了作用。或者，PTSD 可以被解释为述情障碍特征的驱动力。
