The Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery
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A number of reports have appeared of post-traumatic stress symptoms occurring in physically ill patients. This study sought to measure the extent of psychiatric disturbance and acute post-traumatic stress reactions occurring in surgical inpatients, and to examine their relationship with the stress of illness and hospitalization and the personal coping style of the patient. ⋯ Postoperative psychiatric disturbance, including acute stress symptoms, can be understood as a reaction to the 'trauma' of illness and hospitalization, predisposed to by pre-existing depression. Interventions could be directed at screening for at-risk patients, minimizing stress, and encouraging adaptive mechanisms of coping in patients.