Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Older Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of prolonged exposure psychotherapy in older Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Exposure therapy has broad empirical support for PTSD, but it has not been studied systematically in older adults, partly due to published concerns that older adults would not tolerate the treatment. Methods: The trial followed a prospective pre-post design of 11 men recruited from a Veterans Affairs (VA) PTSD Clinical Team program. After baseline assessment, eight participants completed prolonged exposure therapy. Results were compared with a nonrandomized treatment-as-usual comparison group. The traumatic events identified by the Veterans in our samples had occurred, on average, 40 years prior to their study participation. Results: Results revealed that conducting 6 weeks of exposure therapy with older Veterans with PTSD was feasible and efficacious, with evidence of some superiority to treatment-as-usual therapy. Conclusions: As hypothesized, Veterans showed a significant decrease in symptoms of PTSD (clinician-rated and self-reported) following exposure therapy. (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2012; 20:276-280)