Assessing the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Ukrainian pediatric trauma and burn patients and their caregivers amidst the war: insights from a surgical medical mission in Poland (2023).
Ukrainian children and their caregivers were interviewed utilizing validated questionnaires Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report (YSR) to assess their risk for developing or for the presence of clinically significant mental health problems. We found a high percentage of children at risk for developing mental health disorders and an unexpectedly high number of children meeting criteria for mental health disorders. As a result of interviewing the caregivers, agreement was seen between the self-assessment in children and the perception of parents about their children’s wellbeing. Further study is needed to better understand the complex interactions between pre-existing burn and traumatic injuries and their impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of children living in war-torn environments. (PMID 38634462)