CTDA 1005: Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Risk Screening in Children Age 8 to 17 Seen in the Emergency Department for Unintentional Injury and Their Parents, United States, 2003

After pediatric injury, posttraumatic stress and other emotional outcomes in children and their parents often go unrecognized and untreated. This is due in part to the challenges in identifying at-risk children and their parents in the emergency care setting. The aims of this study were to assess the extent to which nurses were able to implement a brief screener for posttraumatic stress symptoms risk within the course of normal care of injured patients, and to assess posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms in injured children (aged 8-17 years) and their parents after emergency department care, and the relationship of these symptoms to parent-reported overall recovery.