Abstract
We aimed to assess psychiatric risk in children after admission to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and its association with greater psychiatric morbidity. We examined 130 children aged 6 to 13 years in a cross-sectional study divided into two groups: 65 children discharged from PICU and another 65 from general wards. The PICU group scored worse on all measured scales of psychiatric morbidities. The child-specific assessment methods included the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scale as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and Impact of Event Scale Revised for PTSD; Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale for anxiety; and Birleson Depression Scale for depression. The PICU group had significantly higher frequencies of PTSD compared with the general ward group (84.6% vs. 6.2%, respectively; p < 0.001). Hence, PICU survivors have higher risk of psychiatric morbidities such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression compared with general ward patients.