On treatment with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder in public transportation workers – A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Previous studies on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) investigated a variety of treatments and included mostly patients victims of sexual and combat assault. This study aimed to determine the short-term efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in occupation-based PTSD. Employees of the public transportation system in Stockholm, who had been experiencing a person-under-train accident or had been assaulted at work were recruited. Subjects with trauma exposure since more than 3 months but less than 6 years were included. Twenty-four subjects who fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD were randomized to either EMDR therapy (n=13) or waiting list (WL, n=11). They were assessed pre-treatment and shortly after completion of treatment or WL period. The pre-defined primary outcome variable was full PTSD diagnosis. Secondary outcome variables were the results of various psychometric scales. Twelve participants began and completed five sessions of EMDR and nine completed the WL. After therapy, eight subjects in the EMDR group (67%) and one (11%) in WL did not fulfil the criteria for PTSD diagnosis (difference, P=0.02). Among the secondary outcome variables, there were significant differences post-treatment between the groups EMDR/WL in Global Assessment of Function (GAF) score and Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) score. This study indicates that EMDR has a short-term effect on PTSD in public transportation workers exposed to occupational traumatic events. Such intensive and brief therapy might be further validated in larger samples of exposed workers with longer periods of follow-up.