title: Predicting symptoms of post-traumatic stress among patients undergoing orthopedic surgery on the basis of routinely collected cardiovascular data.
abstract: The present study examined whether in-hospital assessments of heart rate and blood pressure predicted symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS) in 110 patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery. After controlling for conceptually relevant factors, in-hospital cardiovascular functioning predicted symptoms of PTS three months following surgery. Specifically, lower pre-surgical and post-surgical systolic and diastolic blood pressure predicted more symptoms of avoidance and PTS (total). In contrast, higher heart rate prior to and shortly following surgery predicted marginally more intrusive thoughts. The present findings suggest that routinely collected medical data may provide a means to identify patients at risk for problematic outcomes following surgery.
authors.affiliation: Kent State University at Stark, Department of Psychology, N Canton, OH 44720, USA. jcremean@kent.edu
authors.forename: Julie K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Cremeans-Smith
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Krupko
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Delahanty
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000523:psychology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D009820:Ohio; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires