Admission Psychosocial Characteristics of Critically Ill Children and Acute Stress*

Objectives: Children are at increased risk for developing acute stress and post-traumatic stress following admission to the PICU. The primary objective of this investigation was to explore the prehospitalization psychosocial characteristics of children admitted to the PICU and their association with acute stress. Design: Observational. Setting: The PICU at an urban, academic, pediatric medical center. Patients: Children, 8–17 years old with an expected PICU stay greater than 24 hours were recruited. Measurements and Main Results: During the admission, they completed questionnaires and a semistructured interview evaluating prehospitalization psychosocial symptoms, including prehospitalization post-traumatic stress, quality of life, and current acute stress. One hundred eleven children were enrolled (mean age = 12.9 yr; 60% male; 58% Latino). Half (51%) reported a prehospitalization history of trauma and nearly all (96%) of these children had post-traumatic stress. They had significant impairment on all domains of quality of life. Children reported high rates of acute stress during their hospitalization, 74.8% acute stress symptoms, and 6% met diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder. Univariate analysis showed associations between child age, quality of life, chronic illness, and post-traumatic stress with more severe acute stress. Multiple linear regression modeling of acute stress was done accounting for child age, acute versus chronic illness, quality of life, and post-traumatic stress; prehospitalization quality of life and post-traumatic stress remained significantly associated with the development of inhospital acute stress and accounted for 34% of the variance of the model. Conclusions: The current investigation is a novel evaluation of the prehospitalization psychosocial characteristics of children admitted to a PICU. The children enrolled reported high rates of acute stress, which was associated with a history of post-traumatic stress and worsened quality of life. The relation with post-traumatic stress is consistent with prior research into complex post-traumatic stress disorder and increases concerns about long-term psychosocial outcomes. Our data advance understanding of the factors contributing to acute stress during hospitalizations and may add to recognizing the importance of models integrating psychosocial support.