title: Predictive factors of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder 6 months after a road traffic accident.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study sets out to identify risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a road traffic accident with a view to improving prevention.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used a prospective cohort of road traffic accident casualties. All subjects over 15 years of age were recruited in the course of an interview conducted while they were receiving care in a hospital of the Rhône area administrative département. Six months after their accident, they answered a self-administered postal questionnaire that included the Post-traumatic Check-List Scale (PCLS) in order to evaluate PTSD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to compare those subjects with a PCLS score of 44 or over with those with a lower score, in order to identify factors that might be associated with PTSD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  592 subjects (out of 1168) returned the 6-month questionnaire and 541 completed the PCLS test. One hundred subjects had a PCLS score ≥ 44, suggesting PTSD, and 441 subjects did not. The factors associated with PTSD were initial injury severity, post-traumatic amnesia, the feeling of not being responsible for their accident and persistent pain 6 months after it. A lower odds-ratio was associated with users of two-wheel than four-wheel motor vehicles (OR=0.4; 0.2-0.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Besides predictive factors for PTSD (injury severity, post-traumatic amnesia and the feeling of not being responsible for their accident), our study suggested a reduced risk of PTSD among two-wheel motor vehicle users.
authors.affiliation: Transport Work and Environmental Epidemiology Research and Surveillance Unit - UMRESTTE (UMR T9405) Université de Lyon, INRETS, InVS 69500 Bron, France. laetitia.chossegros@inrets.fr
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chossegros
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hours
authors.forename: Pierrette
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Charnay
authors.forename: Marlène
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fort
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boisson
authors.forename: Pierre-Olivier
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Sancho
authors.forename: Sai Nan
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Laumon
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries / Q000523:psychology; D057189:Checklist; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009049:Motorcycles; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D010343:Patient Admission; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking / Q000293:injuries / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult