RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 1907 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after Discharge in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
JF Archives of Disease in Childhood
JO Arch Dis Child
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
SP A538
OP A538
DO 10.1136/archdischild-2012-302724.1907
VO 97
IS Suppl 2
A1 Düzkaya, D Sönmez
YR 2012
UL http://adc.bmj.com/content/97/Suppl_2/A538.1.abstract
AB Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) develops after exposure to an extremely traumatic event such as death, injury, or physical threat to self, family member, or other significant person. Admission to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with acute disease carries a high level of stress for families, as the disease is of sudden onset and is life-threatening. The incidence of PTSD (21%) was significant among parents well after their child was discharged from the PICU. Symptoms of PTSD include reexperiencing the traumatic event through recurrent, intrusive recollections, repetitive play, or distressing dreams;avoidance of associations with the event through restricted affect and feelings of detachment; andhyperarousal symptoms such as sleep difficulties, poor concentration, irritability, aggression, and physiological reactivity to trauma-related events. In addition to general hyperarousal symptoms, children may complain of stomachaches and headaches. There have been many summaries and reviews of research published regarding the effects of hospitalization with these children. Findings indicate that the experience is, indeed, stressful and that children may experience fear phenomena, regression, sadness, separation anxiety, withdrawal, sleep disturbances, and aggressive behaviors. There was a positive correlation between PTSD symptoms in parents and PTSD symptoms in the child,length of admission andperceived threat of illness to the child’s life. In PICU admissions cause greater disruption to a child’s life, with longer admissions, greater time off school and more paediatric out-patient contacts and hospital re-admissions in the 6–12 months after discharge.