Post-9/11 Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms Among World Trade Center-Exposed Firefighters and Emergency Medical Service Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Colbeth HL ; Goldfarb DG ; Hall CB ; Prezant DJ ; Schwartz TM ; Webber MP ; Zeig-Owens R
• Description:
  Peripheral neuropathy can result from numerous conditions including metabolic disorders, inflammatory disease, or exposure to environmental or biological toxins. We analyzed questionnaire data from 9239 Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY)World Trade Center (WTC)-exposed firefighters and emergency medical service workers (EMS) to evaluate the association between work at the WTC site and subsequent peripheral neuropathy symptoms using the validated Diabetic Neuropathy Symptom (DNS) score. We grouped the population into an "Indicated" group with conditions known to be associated with paresthesia (N = 2059) and a "Non-Indicated" group without conditions known to be associated (N = 7180). The level of WTC exposure was categorized by time of arrival to the WTC. Overall, 25% of workers aged 40 and older reported peripheral neuropathy symptoms: 30.6% in the Indicated and 23.8% in the Non-Indicated groups, respectively. Multivariable logistic models performed on the Non-Indicated group, and on the Non-Indicated in comparison with non-WTC exposed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), found that the highest level of WTC-exposure was significantly associated with DNS positive outcomes, after controlling for potential confounders. In conclusion, this study suggests that symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and paresthesias are common and are associated with WTC-exposure intensity. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Peripheral Neuropathy Disaster Recovery Emergency Medical Services Workers EMS Fire Fighters Neuropathy Occupational Exposure Prevalence Rescue/Recovery Workers; Rescue Workers World Trade Center WTC

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• ISSN:
  1660-4601
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  16
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056071
• Citation:
  Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019 May; 16(10):1727
• Contact Point Address:
  Rachel Zeig-Owens, Fire Department of the City of New York, Bureau of Health Services, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201
• Email:
  rachel.zeig-owens@fdny.nyc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Fire Department
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• End Date:
  20170331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d7e817c01788fb6ed6d824965782769bc7c161436b877df0ff3749ac554fe219c0ed9132dc5d73b8db2ba93d6a85f1a78a5ed104e00b62172f0a1d1ddb0bc996
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213760/cdc_213760_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 297.37 KB ]