Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Quality of Life in Sexually Abused Australian Children |
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Authors: | Elena Gospodarevskaya |
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Institution: | 1. University of South Australia , Adelaide , South Australia elena.gospodarevskaya@liverpool.ac.uk |
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Abstract: | The study used publicly available data on post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of the Australian population with a history of sexual abuse to demonstrate how this evidence can inform economic analyses. The 2007 Australian Mental Health Survey revealed that 8.3% of 993 adolescents experienced childhood sexual abuse, of which 40.2% were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis corresponded to a significant loss of quality of life. Survival analysis was used to estimate the lifetime persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. The average time between post-traumatic stress disorder onset and remission was 11.4 years. Results suggest that successful treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder will save 2.05 quality adjusted life years per child or adolescent with post-traumatic stress disorder. |
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Keywords: | child sexual abuse post-traumatic stress disorder utility QALY |
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