Evaluation of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related comorbidities in clinical studies
Authors: Mureșanu Ioana Anamaria ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   2. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   Ioana Anamaria Mureșanu, RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. E-mail: ioana_ana_maria@yahoo.com, Grad Diana Alecsandra ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   3. Department of Public Health, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Mureșanu Dafin Fior ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   2. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Dobran Stefana-Andrada ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Hapca Elian ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   2. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Strilciuc Ștefan ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   2. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Benedek Irina ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   2. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Capriș David ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Popescu Bogdan Ovidiu ,   4. Department of Neuroscience, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania, Perju-Dumbravă Lăcrămioara ,   2. Department of Neurosciences, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Cherecheș Răzvan Mircea ,   1. RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,   3. Department of Public Health, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Published: November 2022

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) of varying severities are experiencing adverse outcomes during and after rehabilitation. Besides depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly encountered in civilian and military populations. As more prospective and retrospective studies – focused on evaluating new or old psychological therapies in inpatient, outpatient, or controlled environments, targeting patients with PTSD with or without a history of TBI – are carried out, researchers are employing various scales to measure PTSD as well as other psychiatric diagnoses or cognitive impairments that might appear following TBI. We aimed to explore the literature published between January 2010 and October 2021 by querying three databases. Our preliminary results showed that several scales – such as the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Military Version (PCL-M) as well as Specific Version (PCL-S), and Civilian Version (PCL-C) – have been frequently used for PTSD diagnosis and symptom severity. However, heterogeneity in the scales used when assessing and evaluating additional psychiatric comorbidities and cognitive impairments are due to the study aim and therapeutic approaches. Therefore, conducting an intervention focusing on post-TBI PTSD patients requires increased attention to patients' medical history in capturing multiple cognitive impairments and affected neuropsychological processes when designing the study and including validated instruments for measuring primary and secondary neuropsychological outcomes.