Teenagers who have suffered from a serious injury are prone to depression and anxiety that can eventually interfere with their daily lives. Previous studies have linked early post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - an anxiety disorder marked by symptoms such as bad dreams or flashbacks related to a traumatic experience to the life of the injured people later. But few have studied PTSD and quality of life specifically for teenagers. To assess how PTSD and depressive symptoms affects the functionality and quality of life of injured youth, researchers studied 108 teenagers, aged between 12 and 18 years, who were hospitalised for an injury and followed them for at least a year. The teenagers were screened for depression and PTSD with the help of a standard questionnaire that asked them about their quality of life and any functional impairment present before the injury. They repeated the same survey at several points over the next year. It was found that in the days to weeks after the injury, 42 percent teenagers had high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and 19 percent were suffering from depression. Further, over the next year, injured teens were more likely than others to develop functional impairments, including pain and other physical symptoms, as well as problems with schoolwork or social life. More studies are needed to study the effectiveness of routinely screening injured teenagers for depression and PTSD.
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
July 2008