Els van Meijel

69 Results of a 2–4-year follow-up study | Chapter 4 children reported planned surgery due to ongoing physical problems. Of this group of 27 children, 9 had PTSD or self-reported PTSS and 18 did not. Moreover, as a result of the accident and/or the permanent physical impairment, 23 of these 27 children were confronted with one or more major, primarily psychosocial, consequences. These included concentration problems due to headaches, delay in finishing a study program or dropping out, changing to lower level or type of education, serious limitations in participating in sports, inability to tolerate commotion or noise, inability to multitask, limitations in work or social life, no longer feeling at ease with peers, loss of friends and loneliness. Three children specifically mentioned a change of future plans due to physical limitations and chronic pain. These children had planned to become a professional athlete, a sports teacher and a plumber, respectively. In the group with PTSD or PTSS at T2, a significantly higher percentage of children reported permanent physical impairment including psychosocial consequences, than the group without PTSD or PTSS. See Table 4.1 for more details and p values. Acute pain Acute pain scores of 84 children were available. In total, seven children reported no or mild pain, 40 children reported moderate pain, and 37 children reported severe pain. We found no significant difference between the groups with and without PTSD or PTSS at T2 regarding acute pain. See Table 4.1 for more details and p values. Trauma history and new traumatic events between T1 and T2 The mean number of traumatic events children experienced from before the accident until T2 was 3.6 in children with PTSD or PTSS and 2.6 in children without. Between T1 and T2, 16 children experienced one new traumatic event, and one child experienced two new traumatic events. The following traumatic events were reported: life-threatening intoxication, fire, sexual abuse, life-threatening illness of parent, severe (chronic) illness (3x), traffic accident (3x), life-threatening bleeding after surgery, interpersonal violence (2x), unknown (does not want to say), severe bullying over a long period of time, several suicide attempts of a friend, traumatic family circumstances and witnessing a severe traffic accident. There was no difference between the groups with and without PTSD or PTSS at T2 regarding trauma history