INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE PTSD STUDY AVAILABLE ONLINE --

Study upholds current guidelines for

diagnosing and assessing PTSD.

Background here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/milcom/secretivevalaunchesnewptsdreview.htm

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has completed their "PTSD diagnosis and assessment" study and it is available online.

Basically, the IOM upholds current standards as set by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Volume IV (DSM-IV).

This is very good news for veterans as the VA and the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC) will be using this information.

The next VDBC meeting will focus on this report.  That here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20JUL%2006/newsflash07-07-2006-1.htm

Here is a first-person report on the IOM meeting where they announced these results... http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20JUN%2006/newsflash06-18-2006-1.htm

You can find the main page for this IOM study here... http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/32410.aspx

The entire study can be accessed and read/downloaded here... http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11674.html#toc

The findings in brief are here and printed below... http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/32410/35130.aspx

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Diagnosis and Assessment

Released On:
June 16, 2006

At the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Institute of Medicine conducted a study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The committee reviewed and commented on the diagnosis and assessment of PTSD and known risk factors for its development.

The committee found that PTSD is a well characterized medical disorder and that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for diagnosing PTSD are evidence-based, widely accepted, and widely used.

According to the committee’s report, PTSD should be diagnosed and assessed by a health professional with experience in diagnosing psychiatric disorders (e.g., primary care physicians, nurses, social workers) using the DSM-IV criteria. Ideally, this diagnosis should take place in a private setting with a face-to-face interview that can last an hour or more.

Additionally, while screening and diagnostic instruments might help in the diagnosis and assessment of PTSD, these tools cannot substitute for an evaluation by an experienced professional.

The committee wrote that because all veterans deployed to a war zone are at risk for the development of PTSD, it would be prudent for health professionals to query veterans about their wartime experiences and their symptoms, when presenting at primary care and other health facilities (inpatient or outpatient).

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Larry Scott

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

	Web www.vawatchdog.org

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