Mantram Repetition to Manage PTSD in Veterans

• PTST Checklist (PCL) & Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) [ Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Intervention & (6-week FU in MRP) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  The PTSD Checklist-Civilian is a 17 item self-report measure using a 5-point Likert scale to indicate how much one is bothered by the symptoms of PTSD from trauma. The CAPS is used to determine symptom severity and PTSD diagnosis.
  
  

• SF-12 Health Quality of Life and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Wellbeing (FACIT-Sp) [ Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

  SF-12 measures health-related quality of life changes in mental, physical health from SF-36 scales:

  • physical functioning
  • role limitations- physical problems
  • bodily pain
  • general health perceptions
  • energy
  • vitality
  • social functioning
  • role limitations- emotional problems
  • mental health Summary scores explain 90% variance of SF-36 component scores. FACIT-SWB assesses spiritual components using 23 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale; high scores reflect greater spiritual well-being. Validity of Pearson correlations measures quality of life, mood, religious growth.
  
  
• Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) for anxiety and depression [ Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Brief Symptom 18 Item Inventory (BSI-18) is a highly sensitive self-report symptom inventory that screens for psychological distress and psychiatric disorders. It contains 18 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale and has three subscales of depression, anxiety and somatization.
  
  
• Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) [ Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  The Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) is a 15-item questionnaire scored from 1 (almost always) to 6 (almost never) assessing individual differences in frequency of mindful states over time. Mindfulness has been linked to well-being and quality of life. This questionnaire has documented content validity using factor analysis, evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, and test-retest reliability.
  
  
• Quality of Life Enjoyment & Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q) [ Time Frame: Pre- & Post-Intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Q-LES-Q general scale measures quality of life and satisfaction of 14 domains.
  
  
• Spiritual well-being [Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT-Sp)] [ Time Frame: Pre- & Post-Intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  This is a measure of existential spiritual well-being that has subscales measuring peace/meaning and faith/assurance.
  
  
• Spiritual well-being (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT-Sp) [ Time Frame: Pre- & Post-Intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  This is a measure of existential spiritual well-being that has subscales measuring peace/meaning and faith/assurance.
  
  

The Mantram Repetition Program (MRP) is an innovative, portable meditation-based group intervention. In this study, the MRP was delivered in addition to usual care (defined as case management and medication) in a 6-week (90 minutes/week) group setting. The MRP was compared to usual care only.

This 4-year study employed a mixed-methods, prospective, randomized controlled trial with qualitative phone interviews at 3 months post-intervention to explore ways that the intervention was used. Outpatient Veterans (N=146) with military-related PTSD were recruited from a single VA site and randomly assigned to the experimental arm (n=71) which consisted of usual care and the mantram program versus usual care only control group (n=76). Outcome measures included the PTSD Checklist (PCL), Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), Brief Symptom Inventory-18, SF-12 Health Survey, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Existential Spirituality Scale (FACIT-Sp) and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS).