Healio
Healio
June 24, 2014
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IOM report: PTSD treatment benefits unmeasured

The effectiveness of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder is not being measured by the US departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine.

“Both departments lack a coordinated, consistent, and well-developed evidence-based system of treatment for PTSD and need to do a better job tracking outcomes,” Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, chair of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee and chair of the department of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said in a press release. “Mental health is among the most important factors behind successful re-entry after military service, and we don’t know if treatments are working.”

Overall, 5% of service members have been diagnosed with PTSD, increasing to 8% for those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2012, 9% of all VA users sought care for PTSD and the DOD and VA spent $294 million for PTSD care.

The committee recommends that:

  • A PTSD strategy be developed for the increasing burden of PTSD care;
  • Leaders should state that PTSD treatment is a high priority;
  • A measurement-based PTSD management system be developed;
  • An adequate workforce of mental health workers should be available to those who need care;
  • Evidence-based treatments should be the preferred method of care for PTSD;
  • Databases of different programs should be developed for service members and veterans with PTSD;
  • Family member engagement in care should be increased; and
  • A PTSD research agenda should be developed and implemented.

“There is generally good will and spikes of excellence in both departments,” Galea said. “Substantial efforts have been made toward providing service members excellent PTSD care. However, there is tremendous variability in how care is implemented and an absence of data that tell us if programs are working or not. In many respects, our findings that neither the DOD nor the VA has a system that documents patients’ progress and uses standardized instruments to chart long-term treatment are not surprising. We are hopeful that the report will provide a blueprint for where we need to get to.”

For more information, see the full report.