Patient-reported outcomes in post-traumatic stress disorder. Part I: focus on psychological treatment

Since 2000, patient reports have contributed significantly to the widening diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, notably with the inclusion of complex, repeated, and indirect threat to people who develop symptoms. This paper describes and explains why patient reports matter, through worldwide mental health users' movements and the human rights movement. It looks at 46 recent patient-reported outcomes of preferred psychological treatments in clinical research and practice, and compares them with clinician-reported outcomes, using rating scales that diagnose and measure therapeutic gains. Attention is given to one qualitative study of survivors of the London bombings as an example of patients' personal traumatic experiences. Understanding patients' views and their limitations can help increase success in trauma-focused therapy outcomes, particularly where patients fail to engage with or complete treatment, where they doubt the validity of the treatment, or do not see it as culturally appropriate, or fear of revisiting the past. Specific recommendations are made for a more collaborative approach with patients in psychiatric and community care and clinical research.