[Psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in older adults]

In contrast to the high demographic relevance of the older population, relatively little is known about prevalence rates, the typologies/symptom profiles and effective therapeutic approaches for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in older adults.

The aim of the present article is to provide an overview of prevalence rates, typologies of PTSD and effective treatment approaches for PTSD in the elderly.

Compared to younger cohorts, the group of older people has a markedly lower PTSD prevalence in the vast majority of epidemiological studies. There is a comparable structure over all age classes (i. e. classes with low, moderate and high symptoms) with respect to the symptom profile of PTSD. There are currently only a few controlled treatment studies for the cohort of older adults. The published controlled or randomized controlled interventional studies suggest that trauma-focused and narrative approaches seem to be effective in the treatment of PTSD in the elderly.

Future research should take account of the results so far in order to verify the existing preliminary results and to deal with current limitations. Randomized controlled trials are required, which should include a heterogeneous sample of elderly people and examine different therapeutic approaches in their effectiveness and feasibility in this cohort.