Assessment of posttraumatic stress symptoms in children who are medically ill and children presenting to a child trauma program.
To test the utility of the UCLA posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Index for DSM-IV (U-PTSD-I)(c) for predicting PTSD diagnosis in children with and without medical illnesses. The U-PTSD-I and a standard psychiatric interview were administered to medically ill children (n = 76) and children who experienced other traumatic events (n = 31). We found U-PTSD-I's sensitivity and specificity was better in the nonmedical illness cohort. Only intrusion symptoms were significantly associated with the diagnosis of PTSD in the medically ill. In conclusion, the U-PTSD-I performs better among general trauma versus medically ill patients. Intrusion symptoms should be focused on when assessing PTSD in medically ill children.
Shemesh
Eyal
E
Department of Psychiatry, Box 1230, Mount Sinai Medical Center, 1 Gustave L Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA. eyal.Shemesh@mssm.edu
Annunziato
Rachel A
RA
Newcorn
Jeffrey H
JH
Rockmore
Lori
L
Bierer
Linda M
LM
Cohen
Judith A
JA
Schmeidler
James
J
Yehuda
Rachel
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy*