Abstract
Health-related quality of life and posttraumatic stress disorder among survivors of an outbreak of Legionnaires disease.
Lettinga KD, Verbon A, Nieuwkerk PT, Jonkers RE, Gersons BP, Prins JM, Speelman P.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine, and AIDS, Academic Medical Center, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. K.D.Lettinga@amc.uva.nl
A follow-up study of 122 survivors of an outbreak of legionnaires disease (LD) in The Netherlands was conducted to determine persistence of symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Seventeen months after diagnosis of LD, survivors completed a questionnaire assessing symptoms and HRQL and a questionnaire assessing PTSD. The most prevalent new symptoms were fatigue (in 75% of patients), neurologic symptoms (in 66%), and neuromuscular symptoms (in 63%). HRQL was impaired in 7 of the 8 dimensions assessed by the HRQL questionnaire, and 15% of patients experienced PTSD. Symptoms and impaired HRQL persisted for >1.5 years. As a result of the design of this study, it could not be inferred whether Legionella pneumophila infection, severe pneumonia in general, or the outbreak situation was responsible for impaired well-being. However, awareness of this problem by health care providers may improve the aftercare of patients.
Lettinga KD, Verbon A, Nieuwkerk PT, Jonkers RE, Gersons BP, Prins JM, Speelman P.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine, and AIDS, Academic Medical Center, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. K.D.Lettinga@amc.uva.nl
A follow-up study of 122 survivors of an outbreak of legionnaires disease (LD) in The Netherlands was conducted to determine persistence of symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Seventeen months after diagnosis of LD, survivors completed a questionnaire assessing symptoms and HRQL and a questionnaire assessing PTSD. The most prevalent new symptoms were fatigue (in 75% of patients), neurologic symptoms (in 66%), and neuromuscular symptoms (in 63%). HRQL was impaired in 7 of the 8 dimensions assessed by the HRQL questionnaire, and 15% of patients experienced PTSD. Symptoms and impaired HRQL persisted for >1.5 years. As a result of the design of this study, it could not be inferred whether Legionella pneumophila infection, severe pneumonia in general, or the outbreak situation was responsible for impaired well-being. However, awareness of this problem by health care providers may improve the aftercare of patients.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 11-17 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Clinical Infectious Diseases |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2002 |