What would feeling better mean to you? Understanding patient language used for PTSD treatment improvement

Patients undergoing shared decision-making (SDM) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment rank treatment effectiveness as a top consideration, yet little is known about how clinicians can best convey this information. The goal of this study is to explore preferences for language around "getting better" from PTSD. Survey participants who screened positive for PTSD (n = 887) completed open- and closed-ended questions about ways of describing PTSD recovery. Half of the sample rated terminology like "no longer meets criteria for PTSD" or "PTSD remission" based on how well the language captured their general views of recovery and then rated how these terms would apply to their own experiences. The other half of the sample rated specific indicators of recovery (e.g., no longer have a PTSD diagnosis) and completed an open-ended question asking them to describe what recovery would look like. Participants rated the terms "no longer have PTSD" and "cured" as showing the most recovery and endorsed "PTSD recovery" and "symptom reduction" as terms they would more often use to describe their own recovery. When asked about which recovery terms would help them to choose a treatment, participants rated most examples very positively; however, fewer than half endorsed "no longer have a PTSD diagnosis." Open-ended responses focused on symptom reduction, quality of life, and functioning, with a small subset noting uncertainty about their potential to "get better." The majority of respondents focused on dimensional rather than categorical descriptions of improvement, valuing symptom reductions, better quality of life, and improved functioning.