ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD in treatment-seeking Danish veterans: a latent profile analysis

Background: The WHO International Classification of Diseases, 11th version (ICD-11), includes a trauma-related diagnosis of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) distinct from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results from previous studies support the validity of this distinction. However, no studies to date have evaluated the ICD-11 model of PTSD and CPTSD in treatment-seeking military veterans. Objective: To determine if the distribution of symptoms in treatment-seeking Danish veterans were consistent with the ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD symptom profiles. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that separate classes representing PTSD and CPTSD would be found, that membership of a potential CPTSD-class would be predicted by a larger number of childhood traumas, and that a potential distinction between PTSD and CPTSD would be supported by differences in sociodemographic and functional outcomes.Method: Participants (N =1,541) were formerly deployed Danish soldiers who completed proxy measures of ICD-11 PTSD and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) symptoms, along with self-report measures of traumatic life events, prior to starting treatment at the Military Psychology Department of the Danish Defence.Results: All hypotheses were supported. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed separate classes representing PTSD and CPTSD. In comparison to the PTSD-class, membership of the CPTSD-class was predicted by more childhood traumatic experiences, and members of this class were more likely being single/divorced/widowed and more likely to use psychotropic medication. Besides a PTSD-class and a CPTSD-class, LPA revealed a Low Symptoms-class, a Moderate DSO-class, a Hyperarousal-class, and a High DSO-class, with clear differences in functional outcomes between classes.Conclusion: Findings replicate previous studies supporting the distinction between ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. In addition, there seems to be groups of treatment-seeking military veterans that do not fulfill full criteria for a trauma-related disorder. Further research should explore subsyndromal PTSD and CPTSD profiles in veterans and other populations

Does size really matter? A multisite study assessing the latent structure of the proposed ICD-11 and DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD

Background: Researchers and clinicians within the field of trauma have to choose between different diagnostic descriptions of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the DSM-5 and the proposed ICD-11. Several studies support different competing models of the PTSD structure according to both diagnostic systems; however, findings show that the choice of diagnostic systems can affect the estimated prevalence rates. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the potential impact of using a large (i.e. the DSM-5) compared to a small (i.e. the ICD-11) diagnostic description of PTSD. In other words, does the size of PTSD really matter? Methods: The aim was investigated by examining differences in diagnostic rates between the two diagnostic systems and independently examining the model fit of the competing DSM-5 and ICD-11 models of PTSD across three trauma samples: university students (N = 4213), chronic pain patients (N = 573), and military personnel (N = 118). Results: Diagnostic rates of PTSD were significantly lower according to the proposed ICD-11 criteria in the university sample, but no significant differences were found for chronic pain patients and military personnel. The proposed ICD-11 three-factor model provided the best fit of the tested ICD-11 models across all samples, whereas the DSM-5 seven-factor Hybrid model provided the best fit in the university and pain samples, and the DSM-5 six-factor Anhedonia model provided the best fit in the military sample of the tested DSM-5 models. Conclusions: The advantages and disadvantages of using a broad or narrow set of symptoms for PTSD can be debated, however, this study demonstrated that choice of diagnostic system may influence the estimated PTSD rates both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the current described diagnostic criteria only the ICD-11 model can reflect the configuration of symptoms satisfactorily. Thus, size does matter when assessing PTSD

Replicability and Generalizability of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Networks: A Cross-Cultural Multisite Study of PTSD Symptoms in Four Trauma Patient Samples

The growing literature conceptualizing mental disorders like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as networks of interacting symptoms faces three key challenges. Prior studies predominantly used (a) small samples with low power for precise estimation, (b) nonclinical samples, and (c) single samples. This renders network structures in clinical data, and the extent to which networks replicate across data sets, unknown. To overcome these limitations, the present cross-cultural multisite study estimated regularized partial correlation networks of 16 PTSD symptoms across four data sets of traumatized patients receiving treatment for PTSD (total N = 2,782). Despite differences in culture, trauma type, and severity of the samples, considerable similarities emerged, with moderate to high correlations between symptom profiles (0.43-0.82), network structures (0.62-0.74), and centrality estimates (0.63-0.75). We discuss the importance of future replicability efforts to improve clinical psychological science and provide code, model output, and correlation matrices to make the results of this article fully reproducible

a multicentre, randomised, parallel-group, assessor-blinded clinical trial (the TTH48 trial): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background The application of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) for 12 to 24 hours following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has been associated with decreased mortality and improved neurological function. However, the optimal duration of cooling is not known. We aimed to investigate whether targeted temperature management (TTM) at 33 ± 1 °C for 48 hours compared to 24 hours results in a better long-term neurological outcome. Methods The TTH48 trial is an investigator-initiated pragmatic international trial in which patients resuscitated from OHCA are randomised to TTM at 33 ± 1 °C for either 24 or 48 hours. Inclusion criteria are: age older than 17 and below 80 years; presumed cardiac origin of arrest; and Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) <8, on admission. The primary outcome is neurological outcome at 6 months using the Cerebral Performance Category score (CPC) by an assessor blinded to treatment allocation and dichotomised to good (CPC 1–2) or poor (CPC 3–5) outcome. Secondary outcomes are: 6-month mortality, incidence of infection, bleeding and organ failure and CPC at hospital discharge, at day 28 and at day 90 following OHCA. Assuming that 50 % of the patients treated for 24 hours will have a poor outcome at 6 months, a study including 350 patients (175/arm) will have 80 % power (with a significance level of 5 %) to detect an absolute 15 % difference in primary outcome between treatment groups. A safety interim analysis was performed after the inclusion of 175 patients. Discussion This is the first randomised trial to investigate the effect of the duration of TTM at 33 ± 1 °C in adult OHCA patients. We anticipate that the results of this trial will add significant knowledge regarding the management of cooling procedures in OHCA patients

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity

Assessment of depression in veterans across missions: a validity study using Rasch measurement models

Background: Depression is a common psychopathological outcome following military deployment. Previous studies have reported differing rates of post-deployment depression, indicating that the toll of war differs across missions. However, it is unclear to what degree the varying prevalence is due methodological differences. Studies comparing rates of depression across cohorts using the same methodology and ensuring measurement invariance are rare, leaving us with limited knowledge on the actual depression prevalence variance across missions. Objective: Applying Rasch models (RM), we aim to validate a measure of depression distributed to all personnel deployed with the Danish Defense since 1998. The main focus was establishing a sufficient sum score and measurement invariance relative to deployment cohort. Method: Two cohorts of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 (ISAF7, N = 265) and 2013 (ISAF15, N = 271) were included. Participants filled out a questionnaire concerning their Psychological Reactions to International Missions (PRIM) approximately seven months after home-coming. The questionnaire included a 10-item scale of depression symptoms (PRIM-Depression). The validity of the PRIM-Depression was tested using RM with specific focus on differential item functioning (DIF) across the two cohorts. Results: The PRIM-Depression scale displayed excellent overall consistency and showed no problems with monotonicity or homogeneity. However, the full PRIM-Depression scale did not fit a pure RM. We therefore tested the fit of items to a graphical log-linear RM and found evidence of DIF for two items relative to cohort. We proceeded without these two items and tested the resulting 8-item version which fitted a pure RM without DIF on any of the exogenous variables. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the 10-item PRIM-Depression scale should be used to compare cohorts only with appropriate score equation. The 8-item version provides a sufficient statistic and can as such be applied using the raw score