Arbeitsunfall und Psyche - Forschungsansätze zur Prävention psychischer Störungen nach Arbeitsunfällen

Abstract

The institutions for statutory accident insurance have the opportunity to support and fund research projects financially, if the expected results are of relevance for curative treatments on behalf of the insurance. One current topic of scientific research is the increasing number of mental disorders after work-related accidental traumata. Of special interest is the question, whether some patients have a higher risk to develop adverse psychological reactions and chronic psychopathology and which interventions are adequate and effective to prevent these negative sequels of accidental traumata. With this objectives in mind the institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention funded a prospective study, which was designed by the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (University Clinic of the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg), and which is running since 2001 in cooperation with the Department of Traumatology and the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery. As to design and method of the study patients with need of inpatient surgeon treatment after accidents at the workplace are allocated into a group of no risk or high risk patients on the basis of their results in a symptom screening instrument. Patients of the high risk group for later development of PTSD are randomly assigned either to a control group or to a treatment group receiving five individual sessions of a cognitive behavioral early intervention program. The prognostic value of immediate psychological responses after accidental traumata, the differentiation between high risk and no risk patients, the effectiveness of the preventive early intervention program as well as the long-term courses of the patients will be evaluated. Final outcome and conclusions can be expected after the completion of 1 year's follow-up assessments in all three patient subgroups at the end of 2004.