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(Reuters Health) – A recent study suggests that nearly half of traumatized patients, even those without brain injuries, have social deficits that prevent them from interacting with their friends and remaining involved in the community.
Traumatic brain injury has long been badociated with an increased risk of developing a wide range of short- and long-term physical and mental health problems that can significantly reduce the quality of life, researchers wrote in Surgery. However, doctors do not yet know what type of social disability can result from other types of traumatic traumas.
"Social functioning is considered a determinant of quality of life," said Dr. Juan Herrera-Escobar, lead author of the study, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. of Boston.
In general, the social function includes the ability to participate in organized and informal activities with friends, relatives, and people in the community or workplace. Serious injuries can lead to physical and emotional problems that contribute to social deficits. Long hospital stays that prevent patients from continuing their daily routines for weeks can make things worse.
For this study, researchers followed 805 adults hospitalized for moderate to severe traumatic injuries. During the year following the injury, 364 of them, or 45%, reported experiencing social dysfunction.
In this study, researchers badessed social function 6 months and 12 months after injury. Each time, they asked patients how often physical or emotional difficulties affected social activities in the previous four weeks.
Compared to patients reporting no social dysfunction, those who did tended to be younger and were more likely to be African-Americans and not having more than a high school diploma. Patients with social dysfunction were also more likely to have had longer hospitalization, required mechanical ventilation at the hospital, and previous psychiatric illness.
People with a history of severe mental illness, for example, were nearly three times more likely to suffer from social dysfunction. The low level of education, meanwhile, has more than doubled the risk of social dysfunction.
In addition, people with social dysfunction were 16 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than people without social dysfunction, and about five times as likely to not return to work after their accident.
People with significant social support from family and friends or patient support groups may experience fewer problems with social dysfunction after their injury, Herrera-Escobar said by mail. electronic.
"A strong family environment promotes resilience, which has been badociated with better long-term outcomes after trauma," Herrera-Escobar added. "We are also convinced that getting appropriate and timely treatment (rehabilitation, mental health services, etc.) for physical and mental health problems can also help improve their social outcomes."
The study noted that the study lacked data on social functioning prior to patient injury and it is possible that some people have already suffered from impairments.
Nevertheless, the results underscore the importance of considering social function in trauma care early on instead of waiting for the problem to be resolved after patients return from hospital, Dr. Tim Platts said. Mills, researcher in emergency medicine at North University. Carolina at Chapel Hill who did not participate in the study.
Pain management and treatment of people with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric issues can help minimize social dysfunction, Platt-Mills said via email.
"The best approach is to not wait six weeks before concluding the existence of a problem," Platt-Mills said. "A better approach is to collaborate with the patient's clinical team to try to resolve these issues quickly."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2Xb9NsA Surgery, online May 17, 2019.
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