McCarroll J E, Fullerton C S, Ursano R J, Hermsen J M
Department of Military Psychiatry, Walter Recd Army Institute of Research, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Jun;153(6):778-82. doi: 10.1176/ajp.153.6.778.
This study was conducted to determine risk factors for posttraumatic stress in medical care professionals who perform postmortem identifications.
Thirty-one dentists (29 men and two women) who had identified the dead from the fire at the Branch Davidian compound in April 1993 were compared to 47 dentists (45 men and two women) who lived in the area but had not identified any of these remains. Posttraumatic symptoms in both groups were measured by using the Impact of Event Scale and the Brief Symptom Inventory. For the remains handlers only, the subjective distress of handling remains and the social support received during the procedure were reported.
Higher scores on the Impact of Event Scale intrusion subscale, the overall Impact of Event Scale, and the obsessive-compulsive subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory were found for the remains handlers than for the comparison group. Within the remains handler group, distress was significantly related to the hours of exposure to the remains, prior experience handling remains, age, and the support received from spouses and co-workers during the identifications.
Posttraumatic stress symptoms can be expected in some health professionals who perform postmortem identifications. Prior experience and social support may mitigate some of these responses.
本研究旨在确定从事尸体辨认工作的医护专业人员创伤后应激的风险因素。
将1993年4月在大卫教派庄园火灾中辨认尸体的31名牙医（29名男性和2名女性）与居住在该地区但未辨认过任何遗体的47名牙医（45名男性和2名女性）进行比较。两组的创伤后症状均采用事件影响量表和简明症状量表进行测量。仅针对遗体处理人员，报告了处理遗体时的主观痛苦以及过程中获得的社会支持。
与对照组相比，遗体处理人员在事件影响量表侵入性子量表、事件影响量表总分以及简明症状量表强迫观念与强迫行为子量表上的得分更高。在遗体处理人员组中，痛苦程度与接触遗体的时长、以往处理遗体的经验、年龄以及辨认过程中配偶和同事给予的支持显著相关。
一些从事尸体辨认工作的医护人员可能会出现创伤后应激症状。以往经验和社会支持可能会减轻其中一些反应。
