title: Risk factors for pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder after traumatic injury.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that may be predictive of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children after a traumatic injury. The study was a retrospective review of data collected from 337 pediatric trauma patients treated in a multidisicplinary outpatient clinic. Results from Chi-square and t-test analyses indicated that gender, ethnicity, age, and injury severity were not risk factors for PTSD. However, mechanism of injury, specifically a gun shot wound (p =.001), was associated with development of PTSD, as was body area of injury, specifically the abdomen (p =.001). Psychiatric screening of patients with gun shot wounds and wounds to the abdomen may help with the early identification and treatment of PTSD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Section of Academic General Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77035, USA. gill@bcm.tmc.edu.
authors.forename: Anne C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D015998:Abbreviated Injury Scale; D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D000058:Accidental Falls; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000523:psychology