engleski

Muscle Palpation Tenderness in War Veterans with PTSD

In posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) persistent symptoms of hyperarousal are present. Muscle activity is increased because of communications between the limbic system and centres of motor activity which enables transformation of emotive and cognitive processes in motor response. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and the severity of muscle palpation tenderness in war veterans with PTSD. Methods: A group of 50 male subjects (x=35.56 +/- 6.12, range 25-52) war veterans with PTSD was examined. The control group comprised 50 subjects of the same sex and age (x=34.5 +/- 7.67, range 24-51) who hadn't participated in the war and hadn't PTSD. Palpation of head and neck muscles was performed according to the method wich reliability and validity was previously tested (Fricton and Schiffman, 1986, JDR). Depending on tenderness the possible response was a three point scale: 0-no pain, 1-mild pain and 2-severe pain. Results: Nighty-four per cent of subjects with PTSD had tenderness at one or more muscle site in relation to 48% of the controls (Chi-Square 23.51, p<0.0001). The mean number of painful sites was 9.93 +/- 7.35 in PTSD patients compared to 1.2 +/- 1.51 in healty subjects (t-test 8.3 p<0.0000). Only 6% of the controls had severe pain in relation to 80% of PTSD patients (Chi-Square 55, 85, p<0.0000). In both groups the most frequent and the most painfull site was lateral pterygoid. The most rarely tender site was middle temporalis. Conclusion: PTSD patients have significantly increased prevalence of muscle palpation tenderness as compared to controls. These data suggest that PTSD patients are under increased risk of the occurence of muscle disorders.

PTSD; muscle tenderness; war veterans

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