Publications by authors named "Robert A Swor"

Background: Chronic pain following traumatic stress exposure (TSE) is common. Increasing evidence suggests inflammatory/immune mechanisms are induced by TSE, play a key role in the recovery process versus development of post-TSE chronic pain, and are sex specific. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with chronic pain after TSE in a sex-specific manner.

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  • - The study explored the use of wrist-wearable devices to track heart rate variability (HRV) as potential biomarkers for recovery from adverse neuropsychiatric effects following traumatic events, specifically in a socioeconomically disadvantaged group.
  • - Researchers monitored participants within 72 hours of a traumatic event and over a course of 6 months, validating HRV characteristics linked to various posttraumatic symptoms, such as pain, re-experiencing, and anxiety.
  • - The findings indicate that changes in HRV could effectively predict improvements or worsening in symptoms, suggesting that these wearable technologies could serve as useful screening tools for identifying posttraumatic stress in high-risk populations.
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  • - The study investigates sex/gender differences in PTSD by examining 16 risk factors and their impact on PTSD severity in a group of 2,924 acutely traumatized individuals.
  • - It finds that six risk factors are more prevalent in women, while none are more pronounced in men, highlighting unique pathways contributing to PTSD severity based on sex assigned at birth.
  • - The results indicate different risk mechanisms for men and women, suggesting that understanding these differences can help develop targeted mental health interventions and inform future research on other mental disorders.
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Importance: Research on resilience after trauma has often focused on individual-level factors (eg, ability to cope with adversity) and overlooked influential neighborhood-level factors that may help mitigate the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Objective: To investigate whether an interaction between residential greenspace and self-reported individual resources was associated with a resilient PTSD trajectory (ie, low/no symptoms) and to test if the association between greenspace and PTSD trajectory was mediated by neural reactivity to reward.

Design, Setting, And Participants: As part of a longitudinal cohort study, trauma survivors were recruited from emergency departments across the US.

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The neurocardiac circuit is integral to physiological regulation of threat and trauma-related responses. However, few direct investigations of brain-behavior associations with replicable physiological markers of PTSD have been conducted. The current study probed the neurocardiac circuit by examining associations among its core regions in the brain (e.

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Background: Knowledge of sex differences in risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can contribute to the development of refined preventive interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine if women and men differ in their vulnerability to risk factors for PTSD.

Methods: As part of the longitudinal AURORA study, 2924 patients seeking emergency department (ED) treatment in the acute aftermath of trauma provided self-report assessments of pre- peri- and post-traumatic risk factors, as well as 3-month PTSD severity.

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There are significant challenges to identifying which individuals require intervention following exposure to trauma, and a need for strategies to identify and provide individuals at risk for developing PTSD with timely interventions. The present study seeks to identify a minimal set of trauma-related symptoms, assessed during the weeks following traumatic exposure, that can accurately predict PTSD. Participants were 2185 adults (Mean age=36.

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Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis) are highly comorbid. Many factors affect this relationship, including sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics, other prior traumas, and physical health. However, few prior studies have investigated this prospectively, examining new substance use and the extent to which a wide range of factors may modify the relationship to PTSD.

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Patients exposed to trauma often experience high rates of adverse post-traumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS). The biological mechanisms promoting APNS are currently unknown, but the microbiota-gut-brain axis offers an avenue to understanding mechanisms as well as possibilities for intervention. Microbiome composition after trauma exposure has been poorly examined regarding neuropsychiatric outcomes.

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Importance: Differences in neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics are important considerations in understanding differences in risk vs resilience in mental health. Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with alterations in the function and structure of threat neurocircuitry.

Objective: To investigate associations of neighborhood disadvantage with white and gray matter and neural reactivity to positive and negative stimuli in the context of trauma exposure.

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  • The study investigates how alcohol and cannabis use patterns relate to PTSD and depression symptoms in civilians recently exposed to trauma, using data from 1618 participants over 12 weeks.
  • Three classes of substance use were identified: low, high, and increasing, with differences in PTSD and depression symptoms observed at baseline and throughout the study.
  • Results indicate that higher substance use correlates with more severe PTSD and depression symptoms, suggesting that understanding these patterns may help in timing treatment interventions.
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Childhood trauma is a known risk factor for trauma and stress-related disorders in adulthood. However, limited research has investigated the impact of childhood trauma on brain structure linked to later posttraumatic dysfunction. We investigated the effect of childhood trauma on white matter microstructure after recent trauma and its relationship with future posttraumatic dysfunction among trauma-exposed adult participants (n = 202) recruited from emergency departments as part of the AURORA Study.

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  • There are differences in how different racial and ethnic groups experience stress and resources that can affect their brains, especially the amygdala, which helps process fear and trauma.
  • A study with 283 participants looked at how their brains reacted to scary and neutral faces after trauma, finding that Black and Hispanic people had different brain connections compared to White people.
  • The results suggest that these differences in brain activity and responses to stress may influence how likely someone is to develop PTSD after experiencing traumatic events.
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Importance: Adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae after traumatic stress exposure are common and have higher incidence among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Pain, depression, avoidance of trauma reminders, reexperiencing trauma, anxiety, hyperarousal, sleep disruption, and nightmares have been reported. Wrist-wearable devices with accelerometers capable of assessing 24-hour rest-activity characteristics are prevalent and may have utility in measuring these outcomes.

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  • The study analyzed the posttraumatic neuropsychiatric symptoms experienced by over 2,000 survivors of motor vehicle collisions, focusing on ten key symptom areas such as pain, depression, and anxiety.
  • Researchers utilized smartphone surveys over two months to track symptom trajectories and found that adverse symptoms were common immediately after the trauma, with many shared risk factors across different symptom domains.
  • The findings highlight the importance of screening for multiple symptoms in individuals with a single diagnosis and suggest that a multidimensional approach to understanding these symptoms is beneficial for recovery.
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  • The study aimed to create and validate a quick bedside tool that helps identify patients at high risk for long-term posttraumatic stress symptoms following a car accident.
  • Researchers collected data from over 1,500 adults who had been treated in emergency departments after such trauma, ultimately focusing on an 8-question tool that assesses various risk factors.
  • The tool showed good effectiveness in predicting significant posttraumatic stress symptoms, but further research and validation are needed to enhance its accuracy and usefulness in public health interventions.
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Introduction: High-quality data are important to understanding racial differences in outcome following out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Previous studies have shown differences in OHCA outcomes according to both race and socioeconomic status. EMS reporting of data on race is often incomplete.

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Anxiety sensitivity, or fear of anxious arousal, is cross-sectionally associated with a wide array of adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae, including symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, pain, and somatization. The current study utilizes a large-scale, multi-site, prospective study of trauma survivors presenting to emergency departments. Hypotheses tested whether elevated anxiety sensitivity in the immediate posttrauma period is associated with more severe and persistent trajectories of common adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae in the eight weeks posttrauma.

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  • Trauma memories can vividly affect survivors, particularly in the context of PTSD, impacting normal functioning.
  • Most neuroscience research on trauma focuses on threat-processing, neglecting the role of visual circuitry, which is crucial for understanding PTSD symptoms.
  • A study of 278 participants found that structural changes in the ventral visual stream post-trauma are linked to PTSD symptoms like nightmares and cognitive issues, suggesting that this visual network might worsen trauma memory reactivation.
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Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are common following traumatic stress exposure (TSE). Identification of individuals with PTSS risk in the early aftermath of TSE is important to enable targeted administration of preventive interventions. In this study, we used baseline survey data from two prospective cohort studies to identify the most influential predictors of substantial PTSS.

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  • The study explores the link between dissociation, specifically derealization, and adverse psychiatric outcomes following trauma, aiming to understand if it can help identify at-risk individuals.
  • It uses self-reported data and brain imaging from participants two weeks post-trauma to assess the predictive power of derealization on later symptoms like PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
  • The results indicate that persistent derealization is a significant early marker, both psychologically and biologically, for predicting worse mental health outcomes, highlighting the need for assessing dissociation after trauma.
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Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is critical to increasing survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, the percentage of cases in which an individual receives bystander CPR is actually low, at only 35% to 40% globally. Preparing lay responders to recognize the signs of sudden cardiac arrest, call 9-1-1, and perform CPR in public and private locations is crucial to increasing survival from this public health problem.

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Background: Prehospital obstetric events encountered by emergency medical services (EMS) can be high-risk patient presentations for which suboptimal care can cause substantial morbidity and mortality. The frequency of prehospital obstetric events is unclear because existing descriptions have reported obstetric and gynecological conditions together, without delineating specific patient presentations. Our objective was to identify the types, frequency, and acuity of prehospital obstetric events treated by EMS personnel in the US.

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  • PTSD is linked to reduced gray matter volume in the brain areas important for learning to overcome fear, but how this affects PTSD symptoms is unclear.
  • A study involving 99 participants used MRI scans and self-assessments to explore the relationship between brain volume, fear responses, and PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure.
  • The findings reveal that interactions between thalamic gray matter volume and fear responses during extinction learning can predict PTSD symptoms, suggesting that these factors are critical for understanding who may be more vulnerable to adverse effects after trauma.
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