title: Post-traumatic stress symptoms and distress 1 year after burn injury.
abstract: The occurrence and predictors of post-traumatic stress symptoms 1 year after a burn injury were assessed in a large prospective sample (N = 172). Participants completed a self-report post-traumatic stress symptom checklist at 3 time points: within 24 hours of admission to a burn center, 1 month after the injury, and 1 year after the injury. A notable number of participants had a range of post-traumatic stress symptoms both at 1 month and at 1 year after the burn injury. More than half of the sample reported recurrent intrusive recollections of the burn injury at 1 month and at 1 year. Other commonly endorsed symptoms were sleep disturbance, avoidance of thoughts or feelings associated with the burn, and distress at reminders of the burn. The number of post-traumatic stress symptoms endorsed at 1 month was the only significant predictor of post-traumatic stress symptoms at 1 year. These results suggest that it is common for patients to have some post-traumatic symptoms 1 year after a burn injury and that early experiences of post-traumatic stress symptoms may be associated with the development or maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder. We recommend that burn care professionals identify and intervene with patients who have clinically significant distress as a result of their burn injuries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and University of Washington Burn Center, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ehde
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wiechman
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010358:Patient Participation; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires