Acute Traumatic Stress Screening Can Identify Patients and Their Partners at Risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms After a Cardiac Arrest: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

Sudden cardiac death and post-traumatic stress disorder: More research is needed

Sudden cardiac death is an event which is traumatic for the individuals, who survive and their relatives. Very few research is concentrated on these survivals and the symptoms arising from post-traumatic stress disorders. In this journal, Birk et al. report on twelve eligible cardiac arrest survivors contacted, of which ten were enrolled. The authors report on heart rate variability biofeedback, which is, according to the authors, a promising non-pharmacologic approach for reducing anxiety. The intervention was comprised of daily sessions of diaphragmatic paced breathing and real-time monitoring of cardiac activity guided by a smartphone app and heart rate monitor. Ninety percent of the patients had good scores for intervention acceptability and feasibility, and 80 % reported good scores for its appropriateness and usability for reducing fear. Trait anxiety decreased significantly pre-to-post intervention. We comment on this finding highlighting other studies targeting sudden cardiac death and supporting that more research with very large randomized clinical trials is needed.

Acute stress disorder in patients with accidental traumatic fractures: What can we do

AIM

To evaluate the potential influencing factors of acute stress disorder (ASD) in patients with accidental traumatic fractures to provide evidence for clinical nursing care.

DESIGN

A retrospective study.

METHODS

Patients with traumatic fractures treated in our hospital from 1 January 2020 to 30 November 2021 were included. The characteristics of ASD and no ASD patients were assessed.

RESULTS

A total of 468 patients with traumatic fractures were included, the incidence of ASD was 28.20%. Logistic regression analysis showed that age ≤50 years (OR2.918, 95% CI1.994 ~ 3.421), female (OR2.074, 95% CI1.489 ~ 3.375), AIS-ISS at admission ≥20 (OR3.981, 95% CI2.188 ~ 5.091), VAS at admission≥7 (OR2.804, 95% CI2.027 ~ 3.467), introverted personality (OR1.722, 95%CI1.314 ~ 2.432) and CD-RISC at admission≤60 (OR3.026, 95% CI2.338 ~ 4.769) were the risk factors of ASD in patients with traumatic fractures (all p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The development of ASD in patients with traumatic fractures is affected by multiple factors. Medical workers should take early and timely management and nursing measures for related risk factors to reduce the occurrence of ASD.