TABLE 1.
Prevalence of Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Among Firefighters After the World Trade Center (WTC) Attack, by Exposure Category: 2001
| Exposure Category |
|||||
| PTSD Symptoms | Total, No. (%) | Severe, No. (%) | Moderate, No. (%) | Mild, No. (%) | Pa |
| Total | 8487 | 1230 (14.49) | 6169 (72.69) | 1088 (12.82) | |
| Re-experiencing | |||||
| Flashback memories of the disaster (repeated disturbing images) | 2465 (29.18) | 681 (55.64) | 1627 (26.50) | 157 (14.48) | <.001 |
| Nightmares or bad dreams related to WTC | 2290 (27.11) | 504 (41.18) | 1612 (26.26) | 174 (16.05) | <.001 |
| Avoidance and numbing | |||||
| Distant from other people | 1939 (22.95) | 378 (30.88) | 1411 (22.98) | 150 (13.84) | <.001 |
| Distant from friends or family | 1805 (21.37) | 361 (29.49) | 1297 (21.13) | 147 (13.56) | <.001 |
| I feel numb | 1770 (20.95) | 358 (29.25) | 1248 (20.33) | 164 (15.13) | <.001 |
| Dazed or detached from surroundings | 1571 (18.60) | 356 (29.08) | 1103 (17.97) | 112 (10.33) | <.001 |
| Avoiding things or people that remind you of the disaster | 1275 (15.39) | 274 (22.78) | 877 (14.56) | 124 (11.73) | <.001 |
| Difficulty remembering details of the disaster | 871 (10.31) | 285 (23.28) | 551 (8.98) | 35 (3.23) | <.001 |
| Arousal | |||||
| Difficulty getting a good night's sleep | 4106 (48.61) | 747 (61.03) | 2974 (48.44) | 385 (35.52) | <.001 |
| Unusual irritability | 3144 (37.95) | 594 (49.38) | 2268 (37.65) | 282 (26.68) | <.001 |
| Feeling anxious or unusually restless | 2913 (35.16) | 586 (48.71) | 2063 (34.25) | 264 (24.98) | <.001 |
| Difficulty concentrating | 2963 (35.08) | 554 (45.26) | 2153 (35.07) | 256 (23.62) | <.001 |
| Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep | 2794 (33.08 | 566 (46.24) | 1973 (32.14) | 255 (23.52) | <.001 |
| Unusual anger | 2024 (24.43) | 412 (34.25) | 1447 (24.02) | 165 (15.61) | <.001 |
| Functional impairment | |||||
| Difficulty functioning at home | 1306 (15.77) | 302 (25.10) | 909 (15.09) | 95 (8.99) | <.001 |
| Difficulty functioning at work | 773 (9.33) | 198 (16.46) | 518 (8.60) | 57 (5.39) | <.001 |
Note. Symptom groups are from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision.20 Prevalence was determined by firefighters' responses to questions that began, “Since the disaster have you experienced any of the following … ” Percentages may vary because of small differences in the number of members answering individual questions. Exposure was defined as follows: severe was being at the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC), moderate was being at the WTC at 3 to 48 hours after the collapse, and mild was being at the WTC 3 days and onward.
Cochran–Armitage test for trend.