- Author
-
K.W.F. Scheepstra
- Title
- Posttraumatic stress disorder in a medical setting
- Subtitle
- The physician, patient and partner triad
- Supervisors
-
M. Olff
- Co-supervisors
-
M.G. van Pampus
- Award date
- 10 February 2021
- Number of pages
- 193
- Document type
- PhD thesis
- Faculty
- Faculty of Medicine (AMC-UvA)
- Abstract
-
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder that can develop in anyone present or exposed to a psychotraumatic event (PTE). Occupations with frequent exposure to PTEs are at risk for PTSD, such as fire fighters, police officers and military personnel. But also health care workers are at risk, as life-threatening emergencies, severe illness, grief and death are daily practice when working in the hospital. In fact, anyone exposed to stressful details of medical practice is at risk, including the patient and bystanders, for example during traumatic birth. This is called the posttraumatic triad of patient, partner and caregiver. This thesis explored hospital based PTEs and its consequences on mental health among this triad. Our data shows that the mental health burden remains high among the Dutch physicians studied. PTEs are common in the hospital and in all medical specialties, with significant health- and clinical consequences such as increased posttraumatic stress, defensive practice and work dissatisfaction. Another study on psychotraumatic childbirth showed that severe postpartum hemorrhage of more than 2 liters is a significant and clinically relevant risk factor for developing PTSD in women, but not for their partners present during birth. Support protocols for caregivers and postpartum screening in patients, could play a significant role in preventing posttraumatic stress. The work in this thesis endorses the importance of traumatic stress research and professional performance in the medical setting.
- Persistent Identifier
- https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/a4a7ad63-8b26-40d3-a0c6-2b33a1929756
- Downloads
- Supplementary materials
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