ELECTRICAL INJURY RISK FACTORS FOR PSYCHIATRIC SEQUELAE

In the study titled, “Life after Electrical Injury – Risk Factors for Psychiatric Sequelae”, CETRI faculty explore the risk electrical injury survivors have in developing psychiatric symptoms post injury.

Long-term cognitive and emotional deficits have been commonly reported in electrical injury (EI) survivors. However, it remains undetermined what risk factors may lead to the development of such effects in some electrical injury patients and not in others. In this study, it was hypothesized that certain elements of subjective electrical injury experience may predict specific psychiatric sequelae. A group of 73 post-acute EI patients were included in this retrospective study. Statistical associations were examined between major psychiatric diagnoses (post traumatic stress disorder and major depression) and such EI descriptors as having experienced “no-let-go” or having been knocked away on contact, as well as loss of consciousness or altered states of consciousness at the scene of the accident (including amnesia for the event). The study results will help physicians determine which patients may be at increased risk of developing psychiatric symptoms and address these issues as part of their total rehabilitation plan.

At CETRI, we prioritize the rehabilitation of electrical injury survivors. This is possible with our clinical research efforts (such as this study) using our 15 year collection of electrical injury medical records. These factors make CETRI uniquely qualified to undertake ambitious electrical injury cases and longitudinal clinical trials.

Check out the Full Paper Published in:

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1999

Authors of Published Study:

KATHLEEN M. KELLEY, TATIANA A. TKACHENKO , NEIL H. PLISKIN, JOSEPH W. FINK, AND RAPHAEL C. LEE

Departments of Psychiatry and with the Department of Surgery,
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637