Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, University Children's Hospital, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Child and Adolescent Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Qual Life Res. 2019 Sep;28(9):2471-2480. doi: 10.1007/s11136-019-02202-z. Epub 2019 May 16.
Studies have shown a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) among parents of children with life-threatening diseases. However, it is yet unknown whether parents of children with cardiac rhythm device develop posttraumatic stress symptoms or even PTSD.
This cross-sectional investigation is part of a comprehensive single-center study of long-term medical and psychosocial outcomes in pediatric patients with pacemaker (PM) and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). 69 patients (78%) were included in the study, with the participation of 69 mothers and 57 fathers. Parents completed the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 item questionnaire. Child's medical data was collected retrospectively from patients' hospital records.
At assessment, the patients (39% females) were on average 11.2 years old. The predominant device type was PM in 56 cases (81%). The mean time since device implantation was 6.3 years (SD = 4.3). Full heart-disease related PTSD was diagnosed in one mother and no father, while partial heart-disease-related PTSD was diagnosed in 3 mothers (4%) and 2 fathers (4%). Parental HRQoL-especially regarding the mental health dimension-was affected in both parents. In both parents, total PTSD symptom severity scores were a significant predictor for mental health summary scores after controlling for child age at implantation, presence of other non-cardiac disease in the child, parental age, and presence of own chronic disease.
Special attention should be given to parental PTSD symptoms in the clinical follow-up of PM and ICD patients as some parents might probably benefit from psychological support.
研究表明，患有危及生命疾病的儿童的父母中创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的患病率很高。然而，目前尚不清楚患有心脏节律装置的儿童的父母是否会出现创伤后应激症状甚至 PTSD。
本横断面研究是对植入起搏器（PM）和植入式心脏复律除颤器（ICD）的儿科患者进行长期医学和社会心理结局的综合单中心研究的一部分。共有 69 名患者（78%）参与了该研究，其中包括 69 名母亲和 57 名父亲。父母完成了创伤后诊断量表和医疗结局研究简表 36 项问卷。患儿的医疗数据从患者的病历中回顾性收集。
在评估时，患儿（女性占 39%）平均年龄为 11.2 岁。主要装置类型为 56 例（81%）PM。自装置植入以来的平均时间为 6.3 年（SD=4.3）。一位母亲被诊断为完全与心脏病相关的 PTSD，而没有父亲被诊断为该病，3 位母亲（4%）和 2 位父亲（4%）被诊断为部分与心脏病相关的 PTSD。父母的 HRQoL-尤其是心理健康维度-受到影响。在父母双方中，总 PTSD 症状严重程度评分在控制了患儿植入时的年龄、患儿是否存在其他非心脏疾病、父母年龄以及自身慢性疾病的存在后，是心理健康综合评分的显著预测指标。
在 PM 和 ICD 患者的临床随访中应特别关注父母的 PTSD 症状，因为一些父母可能会受益于心理支持。
