UNLABELLED

Although sleep disturbances occur commonly in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are associated with adverse outcomes and increased suicidality, they are often inadequately addressed by antidepressant medications.

OBJECTIVE

This review aims to assess whether prazosin reduces nightmares, sleep disturbances, and illness severity in adults with PTSD.

METHOD

Electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO) were searched in September 2014 for randomized controlled trials in adults. Search terms included posttraumatic stress disorder, prazosin, nightmares, and sleep disturbance. Included studies used prazosin and provided objective outcome data related to nightmares and/or sleep quality.

RESULTS

Six studies (191 participants) met the criteria for inclusion. Prazosin was more effective than placebo in improving nightmares (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 1.022, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.41, 1.62], p = .001), sleep quality (SMD = 0.93, 95% CI [-0.02, 1.88], p = .054; and SMD = 1.14, 95% CI [0.24, 2.03], p = .01), and illness severity (SMD = 1.20, 95% CI [0.79, 1.61], p = .001, with no significant effect on systolic (SMD = -0.01, 95% CI [-0.40, 0.37], p = .94) or diastolic (SMD = 0.30, 95% CI [-0.09, 0.68], p = .154) blood pressure.

CONCLUSION

PTSD-related nightmares, sleep disturbances, and overall illness severity showed a significant response to treatment with prazosin. With careful dose titration, prazosin was well tolerated and had no significant sustained effect on blood pressure.