Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Post-traumatic stress after PICU and corticosteroid use

Abstract

Aim To examine the association between corticosteroid use in paediatric intensive care units (PICU) and subsequent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods The subjects were children aged 8–16 years admitted to PICU with sepsis, meningoencephalitis (ME) and other disorders. Illness information was extracted from case notes; 3–6 months post discharge children completed a PTSD symptom questionnaire (eight-item Impact of Events Scale (IES-8)) assessing intrusion and avoidance symptoms. Saliva samples were also collected for cortisol profile analysis.

Results 53 children completed the IES-8 questionnaires. 33 provided saliva samples. 19 (36%) received corticosteroids. In children with sepsis (n=15), corticosteroid use was associated with significantly lower PTSD intrusion symptom scores. There was a trend towards an association between corticosteroid use and lower evening cortisol levels. There was a comparable but weaker trend in children with ME.

Discussion Corticosteroid use may be associated with fewer PTSD symptoms and lower evening cortisol levels following PICU admission in children with sepsis.

  • post-traumatic stress disorder
  • corticosteroids
  • paediatric intensive care
  • child
  • ptsd

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.