Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Changes Among Veterans Participating in Trauma-Informed Aquatic Therapy: A 1-Year Retrospective Study.

Abstract

This study assessed posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptom changes among active-duty and military veterans before and after participating in a non-exposure-based trauma-informed aquatic therapy treatment. Participants engaged in up to eight treatment sessions over 8-10 weeks. Each individual treatment session was practitioner-led, lasted approximately 50-min, and performed at a private treatment facility. This single-arm retrospective trial enroled 111 participants during calendar year 2023 for treatment. All participants had a prior medical diagnosis of PTSD as verified by medical/military records or a physician letter. The primary study outcome was changes in PTSD symptoms at baseline (pre-treatment) and after up to 8 treatment sessions using the PTSD Checklist Military Version (PCL-M). A total of 86/111 enroled participants (77.5%) completed at least four sessions of treatment for post-testing. PCL-M scores averaged 56.2 (16.2) among all enrollees at baseline and 39.3 (12.9) for those completing 4+ sessions of treatment. The mean PCL-M change for the 86 participants with 4+ sessions was 14.4 (14.2) points, p < 0.001. Sixty-four percent of the latter showed a PCL-M score change ≥ 10 points and 36% showed a change ≥ 20 points. The results of this retrospective trial provide preliminary support for trauma-informed aquatic therapy as a potential non-exposure-based treatment for reducing PTSD symptoms among military populations.