Behavioural, emotional, and post-traumatic stress problems in children and adolescents, long term after septic shock caused by Neisseria meningitidis.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the occurrence of a wide range of behavioural, emotional, and post-traumatic stress problems in children and adolescents, long term after septic shock caused by Neisseria meningitidis (MSS).

DESIGN

This study included 6- to 17-year-old patients who survived MSS and were admitted to the PICU of the Medical Centre between 1988 and 2001. To assess behavioural, emotional, and post-traumatic stress problems, the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the Teacher's Report Form (TRF), and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) were used.

METHODS

Parents of 89 MSS children, aged 6-17 years, completed the CBCL. Teachers of 65 same-aged MSS children completed the TRF, and 45 11- to 17-year-old MSS children completed the YSR. These data were compared with those from the normative reference groups.

RESULTS

Overall, the proportions of MSS children scoring in the deviant range for problem behaviour were comparable to the proportions in the reference groups, according to parents', teachers', and self-reports. As to the level of emotional and behavioural problems, mothers of the MSS children reported more somatic complaints regarding their children in comparison with the reference groups. Severity of illness was not a significant predictor of behavioural, emotional, and post-traumatic stress problems. Age at the time of illness was a significant predictor of behavioural, emotional, and post-traumatic stress problems in MSS children, indicating that the younger the child at the time of illness, the more problems were reported by parents at follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the results showed long-term behavioural, emotional, and post-traumatic stress outcomes for MSS children, which were comparable to those in the general population.