Citation

Cone J, Bowler RM, Li J, Kornblith E, Shaikh A, Gocheva V. Occup. Environ. Med. 2014; 71(Suppl 1): A55.

Affiliation

San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.172

PMID

25018401

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The World Trade Centre Health Registry (WTCHR) prospectively follows a cohort of over 71 000 individuals who reported being directly exposed to the 9/11/01 terrorist attack. Among police registrants at Survey Wave 2, 5-6 years after 9/11/01, four unique trajectories of probable PTSD symptoms were identified: resilient (83%), recovered (2.5%), delayed onset (11.2%) and chronic (5.3%). The current study documents the longitudinal trajectories of PTSD in police officers exposed to the WTC attacks at Wave 3 (2011-2012), over 10 years since the WTC attack.

METHOD: We examined the prevalence of probable PTSD at the Wave 3 survey using a cut-off score of 44 or greater on the event-specific Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) and at least one re-experiencing symptom (DSM-IV criterion B), three avoidance or numbing symptoms (DSM-IV criterion C), and two hyperarousal symptoms (DSM-IV criterion D).

RESULTS: Probable PTSD was 14.4% (95% CI 13.0-15.9%) at Wave 2 and 12.9% (95% CI, 11.6-14.3%) at Wave 3. Significant predictors of chronic probable PTSD 10 years post-disaster (n = 59/2241, 2.6%) include age 45-69 (aOR 3.16, 95% CI, 1.7-6.0), number of stressful events witnessed on 9/11/01 (aOR 3.00, 1.6-5.8), five or more stressful life events since 9/11/01 (aOR 5.42, 1.9-15.2), and unmet mental health care needs (aOR 6.86, 3.3-14.1). Protective factors include social support (aOR 0.34, 0.1-0.97) and number of close friends or relatives (aOR 0.92, 0.87-0.98).

CONCLUSIONS: Chronic probable PTSD among police responders continues to be a significant problem, associated both with intervening stressful life events and unmet mental health care needs.

Language: en