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Resumen El Trastorno de Estrés Postraumático (TEPT) puede aparecer después de la vivencia de una situación estresante y se caracteriza por la re-experimentación del trauma por medio de pensamientos, la evitación de situaciones que recuerdan el trauma y la hiper-excitación persistente. Su etiología y sintomatología sugieren la implicación de diversos sistemas comportamentales, como un condicionamiento aversivo exagerado, dificultad en la extinción de la memoria traumática y sensibilización conductual, que se caracteriza por una respuesta intensa frente a estímulos estresores moderados, no relacionados al trauma. En cuanto a la neurobiología del Trastorno, se sugiere una reducción del volumen del hipocampo y de la corteza prefrontal, una respuesta exagerada de la amígdala, con deficiencia de su modulación por la corteza prefrontal vial-medial e hipocampo, hiperfunción del eje simpato-adrenal e hipofunción del eje hipotálamo -pituitaria-adrenal. Así, el TEPT es un trastorno relacionado con la ansiedad y la memoria. El presente artículo de revisión tiene por objetivo discutir la relación entre el TEPT y los mecanismos de ansiedad y memoria, destacando el desarrollo y mantenimiento del Trastorno, según el modelo cognitivo-conductual, la implicación del eje hipotálamo-pituitaria-adrenal (HPA), y los procesos de reconstrucción y extinción de la memoria.

Resumo O Transtorno de Estresse Pós-Traumático pode aparecer após a vivência de uma situação estressora e se caracteriza por revivência do trauma por meio de pensamentos, evitação de situações que lembrem o trauma e hiperexci-tação persistente. Sua etiologia e sintomatologia sugerem o envolvimento de diversos sistemas comportamentais, como um condicionamento aver-sivo exagerado, dificuldade na extinção da memória traumática e sensibilização comportamental, que se caracteriza por um responder intenso frente a estímulos estressores moderados, não relacionados ao trauma. Em relação à neurobiologia do transtorno, sugere-se uma redução do volume do hipocampo e córtex pré-frontal, uma responsividade exagerada da amídala, com deficiência da sua modulação pelo córtex pré-frontal ventro-medial e hipocampo, hiperfunção do eixo simpato-adrenal e hipofunção do eixo hi-potálamo-pituitária-adrenal. Assim, é um transtorno relacionado a ansiedade e memória. O presente artigo de revisão tem por objetivo discutir a relação entre o TEPT e os mecanismos de ansiedade e memória, destacando o desenvolvimento e manutenção do transtorno, segundo o modelo cogni-tivo-comportamental, o envolvimento do eixo hipotálamo-pituitária-adrenal (HPA), e os processos de reconsolidação e extinção da memória.

Abstract A Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may appear after experiencing a stressful situation and is characterized by recalling the trauma, avoiding situations that remind it, and through persistent hyperarousal. Its etiology and symptoms suggest the involvement of various behavioral systems, such as an exaggerated aversive conditioning, difficulty in extinguishing the traumatic memory and behavioral sensitization, which is characterized by an intense response before moderate stressors not related to trauma. Regarding to the neurobiology of the disorder, it is suggested a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, an exaggerated responsiveness of amygdala with alteration of its modulation by ventromedial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, sympathetic hyperfunction of the adrenal axis and hypothalamic hypofunction of pituitary-adrenal axis. It is concluded that PTSD is a disorder related to anxiety and memory.

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Childbirth may be a traumatic experience for some women. This observational study aimed to describe the incidence of traumatic childbirth in two regional maternity services in Brazil. In addition, the study intended to determine characteristics that are associated with traumatic childbirth. A total of 328 women were interviewed, up to 72 hours postpartum, between July and November 2010. Women were screened for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSMI-IV) criteria for traumatic event using the item A of SCID-I interview for PTSD. Socio-demographic and obstetrical variables, pain score, previous trauma and dissociative experiences in women with and without traumatic childbirth were compared. A total of 53 (16.2%) of the sample fulfilled the criteria for a traumatic event. It observed that some socio-demographic and obstetrical variables may be considered as associated with traumatic childbirth, such as an intermediate level of schooling, high risk pregnancy, obstetrical complications during pregnancy, primiparity, a high pain score, forceps, episiotomy, prematurity, obstetrical complications at birth or with the baby, baby needing hospital care, dissociative experience peripartum, no satisfaction with maternity care, not being well informed of the progress of labor and previous trauma related to urban violence, sexual abuse or domestic violence. Childbirth may be a traumatic event for Brazilian. In this sample traumatic childbirth was associated with pain, previous trauma, dissociative experiences and some socio-demographic and obstetrical variables. Traumatic childbirth constitutes an important mental health problem and need more attention from health.

El parto puede ser una experiencia traumática para algunas mujeres. Este estudio observacional tuvo como objetivo describir la incidencia del parto traumático en dos servicios regionales de maternidad en Brasil. Además, el estudio pretendía determinar las características asociadas con el parto traumático. Un total de 328 mujeres fueron entrevistadas, hasta 72 horas después del parto, entre julio y noviembre de 2010. Las mujeres fueron seleccionadas para el Manual Diagnóstico y Estadístico de los Trastornos Mentales, Cuarta Edición (DSMI-IV) para el evento traumático utilizando el ítem A de SCID- entrevisto para estrés postraumático. Se compararon variables sociodemográficas y obstétricas, puntuación de dolor, trauma previo y experiencias disociativas en mujeres con y sin parto traumático. Un total de 53 (16,2%) de la muestra cumplieron los criterios para un evento traumático. Se observó que algunas variables sociodemográficas y obstétricas pueden considerarse asociadas con el parto traumático, como un nivel intermedio de escolaridad, un embarazo de alto riesgo, las complicaciones obstétricas durante el embarazo, la primiparidad, un alto puntaje de dolor, fórceps, episiotomía, prematuridad, obstetricia Lactancia que necesita atención hospitalaria, experiencia disociativa periparto, ausencia de satisfacción con la atención de maternidad, no estar bien informado sobre el progreso del parto y trauma previo relacionado con la violencia urbana, el abuso sexual o la violencia doméstica. El parto puede ser un evento traumático para el brasileño. En esta muestra el parto traumático se asoció con dolor, traumatismo previo, experiencias disociativas y algunas variables sociodemográficas y obstétricas. El parto traumático constituye un importante problema de salud mental y necesita más atención de la salud

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In the last decade, our understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has progressed from studies of war veterans and specific disaster victims to studies that examine the epidemiology of PTSD in the United States (USA) population. Epidemiologic data on PTSD in developing countries is an understudied area with the majority of studies were developed in the USA and other developed countries. Of the few epidemiological surveys undertaken in other countries, most of them have focused its interest on the prevalence rates of PTSD and its risk factors for following specific traumatic events. Besides increasing the international normative and descriptive data base on PTSD, an examination of prevalence rates and risk factors for PTSD in a socio-political and cultural context (that is markedly different to established market economies) can deepen our understanding of the phenomenology and determinants of PTSD. Although many psychiatric diagnoses can be related with previous traumatic experiences, PTSD has been identified as a disorder that requires a previous traumatic exposure for its diagnosis. A growing literature strongly suggests that early exposure to traumatic events disrupts crucial normal stages of childhood development and predisposes children to subsequent psychiatric sequelae. A series of epidemiological studies has demonstrated that childhood sexual abuse is associated with a range of psychiatric disorders in adulthood that includes mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, even after adjusting for possible confounds, such as family factors and parental psychopathological disorders or other childhood adversities. There is little evidence of diagnostic specificity of childhood sexual abuse, although a consistent finding has been that alcohol and drug disorders are more strongly related to childhood sexual abuse than other psychiatric disorders. Other forms of childhood traumas have been less well studied. This article reviews the findings of an epidemiological study that took place in Chile and examined prevalence rates of PTSD, traumatic events most often associated with PTSD, comorbidity of PTSD with other lifetime psychiatric disorders, gender differences in PTSD as well as trauma exposure in a representative sample of Chileans. This article also reported a comparison of prevalence rates of various psychiatric disorders among persons who reported the first trauma during their childhood, those who reported the first trauma during their adulthood, and those with no trauma history. The study was based on a household-stratified sample of people defined by the health service system to be adults (aged 15 years and older). The study was designed to represent the population of Chile. This analysis is limited to three geographically distinct provinces, chosen as being representative of the distribution of much of the population. The interviews were administered to a representative sample of 2390 persons aged 15 to over 64 years. The measures used were the DSM-III-R PTSD and antisocial personality disorder modules from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and modules for a range of DSM-III-R diagnoses from the Composite International Diagnostic. Traumatic events were categorized into one of 11 categories: military combat, rape, physical assault, seeing someone hurt or killed, disaster, threat, narrow escape, sudden injury/ accident, news of a sudden death or accident, other event (e.g. kidnapping, torture), or other experience. The translation into Spanish was conducted using the protocol outlined by the World Health Organization. The interviewers were all university students in their senior year studying social sciences. Taylor series linearization method was used to estimate the standard errors due to the sample design and the need for weighting. The analysis was conducted using procedures without replacement for non-respondents. The region, province, comuna, and district selected were used as the defined strata. Logistic regression with the corresponding 95% confidence interval was used to examine associations among PTSD, demographic risk factors, and trauma type. To examine whether the association between PTSD and gender could be explained by other risk factors, multivariate logistic regression analyses were also conducted. The first analysis found that the lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 4.4% (2.5% for men and 6.2% for women). Among the traumatic events, rape was most strongly associated with PTSD diagnosis. Among those exposed to traumas, women were significantly more likely to develop PTSD than men, after controlling for assaultive violence. The second analysis revealed that exposure to a lifetime trauma was associated with a higher probability of psychiatric morbidity in comparison with no trauma exposure. Traumas with childhood onset were significantly related to lifetime panic disorder, independent of number of lifetime traumas and demographic differences. This revealed that women had more probabilities than men of developing PTSD once they are exposed to trauma, independent of previous traumas, experiences of sexual assault, other violent experiences or level of education. Some authors have proposed that women have a higher vulnerability than men to develop PTSD and that there are sex differences in brain morphology, in the social interpretation of trauma, or/and in the peritraumatic dissociative experience. Although many theories have been proposed to explain this gender difference in PTSD, more research is needed to evaluate them empirically. This study highlights the importance of investigating the prevalence of PTSD, the patterns of comorbidity of PTSD, as well as gender differences of PTSD in non-English speaking countries. Although Chile has a different historical and socio-cultural context with respect to other countries in which the epidemiology of PTSD has been examined, in general, this study achieved similar results as those found in other studies. The results showed that PTSD is not an uncommon psychiatric illness, it is associated with a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity, it is more likely to predate other psychiatric disorders. Also, the results showed that men are more likely to be exposed to traumas than women, women are more likely than men to develop PTSD, and that PTSD is associated with relatively high treatment utilization. However, compared to another country in Latin America, such as Mexico, Chile has a lower prevalence of PTSD and trauma exposure, which may due to socio-economic factors, such as less inequity between the wealthy and the poor and less violence, crime, and poverty in Chile than Mexico. These studies also suggest that traumatic events that occur in childhood are related to specific disorders rather than those that occurred later in life. Individuals with childhood interpersonal trauma exposure are more likely to suffer from lifetime panic disorder, agoraphobia or PTSD compared to those who experience interpersonal trauma as an adult. However, research should examine the specificity of these disorders in relation to various types of childhood traumas. Limitations of the current study include the use of lay interviewers who, despite acceptable levels of reliability and validity, may be less accurate than clinicians as interviewers. Also the retrospective recall of lifetime disorders is likely to be less accurate than a more recent time frame. The sample used in this study does not show nation wide perspective, because the Southern portion of the country which includes much of the indigenous population was excluded. This study, like most epidemiological studies, did not use an-depth or validated index of trauma, which may have diluted findings. Since this study was cross-sectional, a direct cause-effect relationship cannot be assumed between trauma exposure and subsequent disorders.

Durante la década de 1990 en los Estados Unidos (EU), el conocimiento sobre el trastorno de estrés post-traumático (TEPT) evolucionó de estudios específicos en un principio, sobre veteranos de guerra y sobre víctimas de desastres, a estudios epidemiológicos más tarde, sin embargo, la epidemiología del TEPT en países en desarrollo ha sido un área poco estudiada hasta ahora. Los expertos en el área de trauma han propuesto que los sucesos traumáticos que ocurren en la niñez son más perjudiciales para la salud mental que aquellos que ocurren más tarde en la vida. Este trabajo revisa los resultados de un estudio epidemiológico llevado a cabo en Chile. Específicamente, se revisan los resultados sobre las tasas de prevalencia del TEPT, traumas asociados más frecuentemente con él, así como la comorbilidad de este trastorno con otros trastornos psiquiátricos a lo largo de la vida. Igualmente se analizaron las diferencias del TEPT en cada sexo, así como la exposición a traumas en una muestra representativa de chilenos. Además se comparó la prevalencia de trastornos psiquiátricos en personas que sufrieron su primer trauma durante la niñez, durante la edad adulta, o que no reportaron traumas durante su vida. En estos estudios epidemiológicos se usaron módulos del TEPT y trastorno de personalidad antisocial (TPA) de la entrevista diagnóstica siguiendo los criterios del DSM-III-R (DIS-III-R). Para evaluar el resto de los trastornos psiquiátricos se usó la Entrevista Diagnóstica Internacional Compuesta (CIDI). Estos instrumentos fueron administrados en tres ciudades chilenas a 2390 personas mayores de 15 años. Para estimar los errores estándares (EE) debido al diseño de la muestra y a la necesidad de ajuste se usó el método Taylor de linearización seriada. También se usó un análisis de regresión logística para examinar la relación entre el TEPT, los factores demográficos de riesgo y el tipo de trauma. Además se utilizó la regresión logística multivariada para evaluar si la relación entre el TEPT y el sexo pudiera ser explicada por medio de otros factores de riesgo, así como para calcular las tasas y la oportunidad relativa (razón de productos cruzados) de trastornos psiquiátricos a lo largo de la vida. El primer análisis arrojó que la prevalencia de TEPT a lo largo de la vida fue de 4.4% (2.5% para hombres y 6.2% para mujeres). De los hechos traumáticos reportados, la violación sexual tuvo una correlación más alta con el TEPT que los demás hechos traumáticos. Las mujeres tuvieron más probabilidades de experimentar TEPT que los hombres, después de controlar la variable asalto violento. El segundo análisis evidenció que los que habían sufrido traumas a lo largo de la vida tuvieron mayor probabilidad de tener un trastorno psiquiátrico en comparación con aquellos que no reportaron traumas. También se encontró que los que sufrieron su primer trauma durante la infancia tuvieron más probabilidad de desarrollar trastornos de pánico a lo largo de la vida que aquellos que sufrieron su primer trauma en la edad adulta, independientemente del número de traumas que sufrieron y de las diferencias demográficas. Aunque Chile tiene un contexto histórico-cultural y una economía diferente a otros países en los que se ha estudiado anteriormente la epidemiología del TEPT, el presente estudio reflejó tendencias similares a las reportadas en estudios previos. Los hallazgos expuestos enfatizan la importancia de investigar la prevalencia del TEPT, los patrones de comorbilidad del TEPT y las diferencias de sexo en la prevalencia del TEPT en diferentes países. También estos resultados sugieren que los sucesos traumáticos en la infancia (y no en la adultez) pueden estar relacionados con la ocurrencia de trastornos psiquiátricos específicos.