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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing
5120.0: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 1:06 PM

Abstract #166709

Emergency care must include a focus on psychiatric consequences of injury

Therese Richmond, PhD, CRNP, FAAN1, Theiman Ackerson, MSW1, Justine Shults, PhD2, Wensheng Guo, PhD2, Vicente Gracias, MD3, Judd Hollander, MD4, Keith Robinson, MD5, and Jay Amsterdam, MD6. (1) School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, 420 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-573-7646, terryr@nursing.upenn.edu, (2) School of Medicine, Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, Blockley Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (3) School of Medicine, Division of Traumatology & Surgical Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, 3440 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (4) School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 34th & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (5) School of Mediicne, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Pennsylvania, 34th & Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (6) School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market St, Philadelphioa, PA 19104

Background: Increasing attention should be paid to the consequences of minor injuries since they constitute the largest portion of the injury pyramid annually and disabling psychological consequences of injury are unrelated to injury severity. Purpose: To identify individuals at risk for developing mood and related psychiatric disorders in the year following minor injury. Methods: A longitudinal cohort design of 275 randomly selected patients who visited an ED for minor injury, excluding those with current major depression or psychotic disorders. Structured psychiatric interviews were obtained at 2 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months post-injury and disorders were diagnosed using DSM IV criteria. Stepwise logistic regression was used to examine factors present at the time of injury or soon thereafter that predicted risk for post-injury disorders. Results: The sample (N=248) had women (50.4%) and men (40.7%), was black (56%) and white (40.7%) with a mean age of 41.4 years (SD 17.1). Forty-five participants (18%) had a mood disorder diagnosed. 7 (2.8%) had anxiety disorder, 9 (3.6%) had substance abuse disorder, 1 had an adjustment disorder. Four had more than one Axis 1 disorder. Five factors predicted an increased likelihood of a mood disorder: current psychiatric disorder at time of injury (OR 6.1, 95%CI 2.4 – 15.9), anticipation of problems (OR 4.4, 95% CI 1.8 – 11.1), increasing number of bed days in month prior to injury (OR 1.3 95%CI 1.1 – 1.5), and lower pre-injury social interaction (OR .97 95% CI .95 - .99) and reported quality of life (OR .89, 95% CI .83-.96). Findings are similar for all Axis I disorders are added to mood as the dependent variable. Conclusion: More than 1 in 5 patients meet diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric disorder following minor injury. This has policy implications for the design, delivery, and payment of services. Funder: RO1MH63818, NIMH

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Injury, Depression

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

ICEHS Late-Breaker Presentations

The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA