Life after death: Posttraumatic stress disorder in survivors of cardiac arrest—Prevalence, associated factors, and the influence of sedation and analgesia

Abstract

The prevalence of PTSD in cardiac arrest survivors is high. Besides younger age, neither clinical factors nor the use of sedation and analgesia were associated with development of PTSD.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Injury: Trajectories and Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life

“…A study of patients with PTSD following cardiac arrest reported similar findings [27]. In another study among adolescent victims PTSD was associated with impairments in Role/Social Behavioral, Role/Social Physical, Bodily Pain, General Behavior, Mental Health, and General Health Perceptions subscales of the 87-item Child Health Questionnaire [11].…”

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Wake of Heart Disease: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Future Research Directions

“…Subsequent studies have identified personality traits (27,41,42), sociodemographic factors (eg, age, female sex, and ethnic origin) (29,32,38,40,43), lack of social support (39,40,43,44), previous psychiatric history (39), prior traumatization (29), dissociative symptoms and acute stress disorder at the time of MI (42,44,45), and aspects related to the cardiac event (eg, the subjective perception of life threat and severity of MI, awareness of having a cardiac event, and anticipated incapacitation after MI) (22,29,45,43) as potential risk factors for the development of PTSD in cardiac patients (Figure 1). …”

“…Fifth, when studying risk factors for the development of PTSD, current evidence suggests that several factors, including sociodemographic factors (29,32,38,40), social support (39,40,43,44), prior traumatization (29), previous psychiatric history (39), aspects related to the cardiac event (26,29,45,41), and personality may lead to the development of PTSD. Personality may be a particularly important explanatory factor of individual differences in risk, as the distressed (Type D) personality has been associated with a 4-fold increased risk of PTSD in first MI patients and controls (41).…”

Psychological wellbeing in survivors of cardiac arrest, and its relationship to neurocognitive function

“…A recent review stated that research is hindered by a lack of methodological consensus, yet the prevalence of depression and anxiety in cardiac arrest survivors could be as high as 45% and 61% respectively. 11 The use of non-specific clinical scales that employ normative cut-offs, 11 and a failure to evaluate the impact of stress on survivors, 12 have limited the potential to comprehensively characterise post-arrest wellbeing. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale addresses these problems, 13 and was therefore used in this research.…”