Post-traumatic stress disorder attributed to traumatic brain injury in children - a systematic review

OBJECTIVE: To assess the proportion of pediatric patients who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) attributed to traumatic brain injury (TBI).

METHODS: PubMed and Embase were searched from database inception until January 26, 2019. Two independent investigators screened titles, abstracts, and subsequently, full-text articles. Following this, the same investigators also extracted data relevant for the scope of this review.

RESULTS: Ten articles were included in this review. In these, six unique cohorts were described, with relative frequencies of PTSD attributed TBI ranging from 3.3% to 48.5%. Two studies also found that PTSD was more common in children after TBI compared to pediatric orthopedic controls. Study quality was determined as high or very high for all six included cohorts, although the studies differed considerably in terms of methodology.

CONCLUSIONS: Methodological variations confound comparisons of relative frequency assessments of PTSD attributed to TBI. However, PTSD is associated with considerable long-term disability and undetected PTSD in children should raise public concern. Thus, large scale, prospective studies are needed to ascertain the clinical course of PTSD attributed to TBI in children and adolescence.