ONE-YEAR PROSPECTIVE FOLLOW-UP OF MOTOR-VEHICLE ACCIDENT VICTIMS

One-hundred and thirty-two victims of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), who sought medical attention as a result of the MVA, were assessed at three points in rime: 1-4 months post-MVA, 6 months later, and 12 mont hs later. Of the 48 who met the full criteria for Post-Traumatic Stres s Disorder (PTSD) initially, half had remitted at least in part by the 6-month follow-up point and two-thirds had remitted by the l-yr follo w-up. Using logistic regression, 3 variables combined to correctly ide ntify 79% of remitters and non-remitters at the 12-month follow-up poi nt: initial scores on the irritability and foreshortened future sympto ms of PTSD and the initial degree of vulnerability the subject felt in a motor vehicle after the MVA. Four variables combined to predict 64% of the variance in the degree of post-traumatic stress symptoms at 12 months: presence of alcohol abuse and/or an Axis-it disorder at the t ime of the initial assessment as well as the total scores on the hyper arousal and on avoidance symptoms of PTSD present at the initial post- MVA assessment. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd