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VOLUME 10 , ISSUE 3 ( July, 2006 ) > List of Articles

REVIEW ARTICLE

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in relatives of severe trauma patients admitted to the intensive care unit

Lalitha V. Pillai, D. Ambike, S. Husainy, N. Vaidya, S. D. Kulkarni, S. Aigolikar

Keywords : Post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological symptoms, trauma

Citation Information : Pillai LV, Ambike D, Husainy S, Vaidya N, Kulkarni SD, Aigolikar S. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in relatives of severe trauma patients admitted to the intensive care unit. Indian J Crit Care Med 2006; 10 (3):181-186.

DOI: 10.4103/0972-5229.27860

License: CC BY-ND 3.0

Published Online: 01-10-2010

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2006; The Author(s).


Abstract

Aim: To study the prevalence of symptoms suggestive of post-traumatic stress disorder in relatives of severe trauma patients admitted to the ICU. Materials and Methods: 177 relatives of trauma patients admitted to the ICU were studied to evaluate the negative psychological impact resulting from this admission by using the impact of event scale-revised [IES-R]. About 76 of these relatives could be followed up again with questionnaire after 2 years. Result: Of the 177 relatives, 85 (48%) were males and 92 (52%) females with no statistically significant difference in their scores. About 7 days after admission, 34-54% of the 177 relatives had moderate and 19-41% had severe symptoms suggestive of PTSD. For the 76 relatives who participated in both 2002 and 2004, symptoms suggestive of PTSD were moderate in 39-61% and severe in 12-39% initially. After 2 years the scores were moderate in 12-14% and severe in 4-5%. Maximum scores amongst the three subscales were for hyperarrousal symptom with mean scores of 2.1±1. In the group-which could be followed up after 2 years, initially 79% of the respondents had sum of IES-R scores ?26 suggesting severe symptoms, which declined to 14% after 2 years. Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest that 79% of the relatives of severe trauma patients develop PTSD symptoms following ICU admission. In most, the scores reduced with time but 14% continued to have severe scores at the end of 2 years suggesting the presence of persisting psychological disturbance in them.


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