One in Four Military Personnel Drop Out of PTSD Treatments

MONDAY, Nov. 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- One-quarter of military populations (25.6 percent) drop out of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments, although rates vary across protocols, according to research published online Nov. 17 in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.Elizabeth A. Penix-Smith, Ph.D., and Joshua K. Swift, Ph.D., from Idaho State University in Pocatello, conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether specific PTSD psychotherapy protocols are linked to higher dropout risk among military populations.Based on 181 articles providing PTSD dropout rates for 232 treatments (124,092 individuals), the researchers found that the weighted dropout rate for all PTSD interventions was 25.6 percent using a random effects model where dropout significantly differed across treatments. Higher dropout was seen for treatments with weekly formats of cognitive processing therapy (CPT; 40.1 percent), prolonged exposure therapy (PE; 34.7 percent), and virtual reality exposure therapy (37.2 percent). In contrast, lower dropout was associated with weekly formats of present-centered therapy (16.1 percent), mindfulness-based stress reduction (17.4 percent), and group-based exposure therapy (6.9 percent). The lowest dropout rates were seen with intensive outpatient programs, even when they included CPT (8.5 percent) and PE (5.5 percent)."Dropout rates remain a significant challenge in PTSD care for military populations," Penix-Smith said in a statement. "Identifying which protocols are more sustainable can help clinicians tailor care and policymakers prioritize treatments that keep patients engaged." Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

One in Four Military Personnel Drop Out of PTSD Treatments

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