title: Post-traumatic stress disorder in serious accidental injury: 3-year follow-up study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Long-term data on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following accidents are scarce.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess and predict PTSD in people 3 years after severe accidental injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Severely injured patients were recruited consecutively from the intensive care unit (n=121) and assessed within 1 month of the trauma. Follow-up interviews were conducted 6 months, 12 months and 36 months later; 90 patients participated in all four interviews. Symptoms were assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 6% of patients 2 weeks after the accident, in 2% after 1 year and in 4% after 3 years. Robust predictors of later PTSD symptom level were intrusive symptoms shortly after the accident and biographical risk factors. There were individual changes over time between the categories PTSD, sub-threshold PTSD and no PTSD. Whereas PTSD symptom severity was low or decreased for most of the patients, some of them showed an increase or a delayed onset. Patients with persisting PTSD symptoms at 6 months and patients with delayed onset of symptoms are at risk of long-term PTSD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of PTSD was low over the whole period of 3 years.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatrische Dienste Aargau AG, Baden, Switzerland. Urs.Hepp@pdag.ch
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hepp
authors.forename: Hanspeter
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moergeli
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buchi
authors.forename: Helke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bruchhaus-Steinert
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sensky
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schnyder
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors