Epidemiological Characteristics and Risk Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Chinese Children After Exposure to an Injury.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to describe the risk factors of injured children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in China and provide the scientific data for PTSD prevention and control in children. Electronic databases, including Medline, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), were searched for articles published on or before October 30, 2018, searching for the words, "PTSD," "child"/"children," "injury"/"injuries," and "China"/"Chinese." Forty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria and were meta-analyzed using random-effect models. The total sample size in our meta-analysis was 65 298, and there were 13 402 children diagnosed with PTSD. The prevalence of PTSD after suffering from injury was 20.52% (95% CI = 17%-23%). PTSD occurrence was higher in girls than boys (24.61% vs 19.36%, P < 0.001). The PTSD rate for students was 51.82%, 37.12%, and 14.02% in senior, junior high school children, and primary school student, respectively. PTSD prevalence was 58.93% in rural children and higher than the urban children (57.36%). The prevalence of PTSD in ethnic minority children was significantly higher than that of Han Chinese children (35.38% vs 13.50%). PTSD in injured children is significantly higher in girls, senior high school children, in rural areas, and in ethnic minority children. PTSD prevention and control should be focused on these 4 subgroups.