Citation

Skrobik Y. Intensive Care Med. 2010; 36(12): 1988-1989.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00134-010-1975-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Advances in intensive care practice and technology allow severely ill patients to survive conditions that would have been fatal 50 years ago; however, survival of critical illness is often associated with psychiatric sequelae, and this is just beginning to be understood. In a study in this issue of Intensive Care Medicine, Amal Jubran and colleagues [1] describe the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients in a weaning unit. PTSD is an important problem. It is associated with poor quality of life and an increased risk of suicide, but it is amenable to intervention, particularly if it is implemented early. This study, conducted in patients well enough and lucid enough to be interviewed, suggests that PTSD is common both in the weaning unit and after discharge. In contrast to earlier questionnaire-based studies, patients included in this study were rigorously assessed by the gold standard, an interview by an experienced clinician. A simple questionnaire, however, w...

Language: en