Background
There are currently no longitudinal studies of cognitive performance in older patients
with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is therefore unclear whether relationships
between memory and symptoms differ over time among older persons with and without
PTSD.
Methods
Twenty-eight Holocaust survivors and nineteen comparison subjects were evaluated 5
years after they had received a memory assessment including paired-associates learning
and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT).
Results
While Holocaust survivors with PTSD showed a diminution in symptom severity (t = 2.99, df = 12, p = .011), they still manifested a decline in paired associates learning, suggesting
an acceleration in age-related memory impairment (related word pairs: t = 2.87, df = 13, p = .013; unrelated word pairs: t = 2.06, df = 13, p = .060). The survivors with PTSD showed improvements on several CVLT measures over
time. These improvements correlated with symptom improvements, such that group differences
at the follow-up were no longer detected.
Conclusions
The discrepancy in the pattern of performance on these two tests of memory following
symptom improvement suggests possible differentiation between of aspects of memory
functions associated with aging and trauma exposure and those associated with the
severity of PTSD symptoms. Performance on the CVLT appeared related to clinical symptom
severity while paired associate learning worsened over time in Holocaust survivors
with PTSD, consistent with earlier cross-sectional findings.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 26,
2006
Received in revised form:
January 17,
2006
Received:
May 15,
2005
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
