The behaviour of farmed red deer was studied while they were being loaded on to a transporter. In experiment 1, the effects of previous overnight housing conditions (indoors, at a space allowance of either 4 or 8 m2 per deer, or in an outdoor raceway) on the ease of loading were investigated. The number of attempts required to load the deer was not significantly affected by their housing conditions or their sex, but there was a significant increase in the number of attempts required after the first day (P < 0.05), suggesting that some aspect of the loading procedure was aversive to the deer. In experiment 2, the effects of illumination inside the vehicle (bright or dim) and the shape of the loading race (straight or curved) were examined. Neither factor significantly influenced the time taken by deer to enter the trailer. However, deer took significantly (P < 0.05) less time to load as the number of trials increased. It is concluded that the loading of deer may be facilitated if the loading raceway is wide enough to allow the deer to move as a group, but narrow enough to prevent the deer from turning round.
In conclusion, increased levels of distress at the time of a trauma may be a risk factor for increased PTSD symptoms in older adults. Assessment of peritraumatic distress immediately after a trauma might therefore prove useful in detecting older individuals at risk of developing PTSD.
ReferencesBirmes P, Brunet A, Benoit M, et al. 2005. Validation of the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire self-report version in two samples of French-speaking individuals exposed to trauma. Eur Psychiatry 20: 145-151. Blake DD, Weathers FW, Nagy LM, et al. 1995. The development of a Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. J Trauma Stress 8: 75-90. Brunet A, Weiss DS, Metzler TJ, et al. 2001. The Peritraumatic Distress Inventory: a proposed measure of PTSD criterion A2. Am J Psychiatry 158: 1480-1485. Chung MC, McKee KJ, Austin C, et al. 2009. Posttraumatic stress disorder in older people after a fall. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 24: 955-964. Lensvelt-Mulders G, van der Hart O, van Ochten JM, et al. 2008. Relations among peritraumatic dissociation and posttraumatic stress: a metaanalysis.A Memory Clinic model set up to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's Disease early in the course of the illness delayed time to institutionalisation by a median of 9 months compared to controls. Treatment included pre and post diagnostic counselling, and psychosocial interventions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.