Center of Excellence in Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 Mar;20(3):276-80. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3182435ee9.
: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of prolonged exposure psychotherapy in older Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Exposure therapy has broad empirical support for PTSD, but it has not been studied systematically in older adults, partly due to published concerns that older adults would not tolerate the treatment.
: The trial followed a prospective pre-post design of 11 men recruited from a Veterans Affairs (VA) PTSD Clinical Team program. After baseline assessment, eight participants completed prolonged exposure therapy. Results were compared with a nonrandomized treatment-as-usual comparison group. The traumatic events identified by the Veterans in our samples had occurred, on average, 40 years prior to their study participation.
: Results revealed that conducting 6 weeks of exposure therapy with older Veterans with PTSD was feasible and efficacious, with evidence of some superiority to treatment-as-usual therapy.
: As hypothesized, Veterans showed a significant decrease in symptoms of PTSD (clinician-rated and self-reported) following exposure therapy.
本初步研究旨在评估延长暴露疗法治疗创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）老年退伍军人的可行性和初步疗效。暴露疗法在 PTSD 方面具有广泛的经验支持，但尚未在老年人中进行系统研究，部分原因是有研究认为老年人无法耐受该治疗。
该试验采用前瞻性前后设计，从退伍军人事务部（VA）创伤后应激障碍临床团队项目中招募了 11 名男性。在基线评估后，8 名参与者完成了延长暴露治疗。结果与非随机治疗即常规治疗比较组进行了比较。我们的样本中退伍军人确定的创伤性事件发生在他们参与研究之前平均 40 年。
结果表明，为患有 PTSD 的老年退伍军人开展 6 周的暴露疗法是可行且有效的，并且在疗效上优于常规治疗。
正如假设的那样，退伍军人在接受暴露疗法后 PTSD 的症状（临床医生评定和自我报告）显著下降。
