[Victims of general crimes. Prospective and longitudinal assessment of psychological injuries].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the relations between acute psychological injury, particularly peritraumatic dissociation, and early development of posttraumatic stress disorder in victims of violence.


METHODS
Thirty-five subjects were prospectively assessed in an emergency department, within 24 hours of the trauma, for acute dissociative experiences with the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ). All of them were followed longitudinally to assess post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 5 weeks after with the Clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS) and the Impact of event scale (IES).


RESULTS
Of the 35 victims 10 (28%) were diagnosed with a posttraumatic stress disorder at 5 weeks. Among PTSD subjects mean PDEQ scores were significantly higher (3+/-1.1) than in those without PTSD (2.3+/-0.7) (t=2.24, df=33, p=0.029). The PTSD subjects reported more "out of body experience" (p=0.015) and more "sense of body distorsion" (p=0.03) than non PTSD subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
High levels of peritraumatic dissociation following violent assault are risk factors for early posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological assessment of acute traumatic dissociative experiences must be included in emergency departments.
Birmes
P
P
Département des Urgences, CHU de Toulouse, 1, avenue Jean-Poulhès, 31403 Toulouse, France. birmes.p@chu-toulouse.fr
Carreras
D
D
Ducassé
J L
JL
Charlet
J P
JP
Lecoules
N
N
Olivier
M
M
Schmitt
L
L
Lauque
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019548:Crime Victims; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires