Doctors have little quality evidence to rely on when deciding how best to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning U.S. veterans, a new government-sponsored review of the data concludes.

The Institute of Medicine study was requested by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which noted that about 12.6 percent of personnel fighting in Iraq, and 6.2 percent of those returning from Afghanistan, have experienced symptoms of PTSD.

Unfortunately, an overabundance of studies with inadequate or flawed designs make it impossible to say whether drug treatments or most psychotherapies can help fight PTSD, the authors of the report told reporters at a press conference Thursday.

Only exposure therapy -- where the patient is re-exposed to the original stressor in a safe, controlled environment -- shows some solid data bolstering its claim to effectiveness, the researchers said.

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