Present‐centred therapy for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults
Citation: Belsher BE, Beech E, Evatt D, et al. Present‐centered therapy (PCT) for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2019;(11):CD012898.
Language: Abstract available in EN, ES, FA, FR, KO, ZH. Plain language summary available in EN, DE, ES, FA, FR, JA, HO, MS, RU, ZH. Full text available in EN, ES.
Funding sources: National Institute for Health Research (UK).
What is this? In this Cochrane review, the authors searched for randomised controlled trials of the effectiveness of present‐centred therapy (PCT) compared with either trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapies (TF-CBT) or a control condition in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. They searched in February 2019 and found 12 studies (1837 participants), all from the USA. They also found one ongoing study and two studies that were awaiting assessment.
What works: The authors found that PCT was more effective than control conditions in reducing PTSD symptom severity. PCT had lower dropout rates compared with TF-CBT.
What doesn’t work: PCT did not appear to be as effective as TF-CBT in reducing PTSD symptom severity. However, the size of this difference decreased over time.
What is uncertain: It is uncertain whether PCT is more effective than TF-CBT or control conditions at reducing self-reported anxiety. Because many participants were military veterans, the results may not be generalisable to other populations.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that their results are consistent with current guidelines that suggest PCT may be offered as a treatment for PTSD when TF-CBT is not readily available or is not preferred.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was prepared by Catherine Haynes, checked by Briann Mensour, and finalized by William Summerskill.