Post traumatic stress disorder: undiagnosed cases in a tertiary inpatient setting

ABSTRACT

Objective: Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common; debilitating anxiety disorder characterized by emotional and physical symptoms that may occur after exposure to a severely traumatic event. Since it occurs commonly as a comorbid diagnosis with other mood- and anxiety disorders; we postulated that this disorder may be under-diagnosed in therapeutic wards where anxiety and mood disorders are treated. The study thus sought to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed PTSD in an inpatient population; and to compare the demographic details and comorbid diagnoses of subjects with and without PTSD. Method: The Clinician-administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV (CAPS) was administered to 40 subjects who were inpatients in a therapeutic ward of a large psychiatric hospital and who had never had a diagnosis of PTSD before. Results:16 (40) subjects met the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. We did not find significant clinical differentiating factors between subjects with and without PTSD; however subjects with PTSD were more likely to use cannabis. Conclusions: PTSD remains undiagnosed in many patients admitted to therapeutic units