Car accidents cause of traumatic stress

Researchers say children can suffer traumatic stress from vehicle crashes even if no injury occurred.

A study by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that while most children did well after a crash, 2 percent experienced multiple traumatic stress symptoms that disrupted their lives.

There are more than 1.5 million crashes involving children in the U.S. annually, suggesting that more than 25,000 children each year may require help in coping with reactions to a crash, the study said.

Researchers urge clinicians to screen children and their parents after any crash experience.

The study, published in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, examined 1,091 crashes that occurred in 15 states and Washington, D.C., involving 1,483 child occupants between the ages of five and 15.

While traumatic stress symptoms were seen in children and their parents regardless of injury, if a child received medical care after the crash, both the child and their parents were four times more likely to have serious acute stress symptoms than when no medical attention was required.

© Copyright 2005 by United Press International