World Trade Center-related physical and mental health burden among New York City Fire Department emergency medical service workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hall CB ; Kablanian A ; Kelly KJ ; Liu X ; Prezant DJ ; Schwartz T ; Vossbrinck M ; Weakley J ; Webber MP ; Yip J ; Zeig-Owens R
• Description:
  Objectives: To describe the health burden among Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) emergency medical service (EMS) workers and examine its association with work at the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site. Methods: In this observational cohort study, we used FDNY physician diagnoses to estimate the cumulative incidence of physical health conditions including rhinosinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), obstructive airways disease (OAD) and cancer among EMS workers and demographically similar firefighters who were active on 11 September 2001 (9/11). Validated screening instruments were used to estimate the prevalence of probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), probable depression and probable harmful alcohol use. We also analysed the association between health conditions and WTC-exposure. Results: Among 2281 EMS workers, the 12-year post- 9/11 cumulative incidence (11 September 2001 to 31 December 2013) of rhinosinusitis was 10.6%; GERD 12.1%; OAD 11.8%; cancer 3.1%. The prevalence of probable PTSD up to 12 years after exposure was 7%; probable depression 16.7%; and probable harmful alcohol use 3%. Compared with unexposed, EMS workers who arrived earliest at the site had higher adjusted relative risks (aRR) for most conditions, including rhinosinusitis (aRR=3.7; 95% CI 2.2 to 6.0); GERD (aRR=3.8; 95% CI 2.4 to 6.1); OAD (aRR=2.4: 95% CI 1.7 to 3.6); probable PTSD (aRR=7.0; 95% CI 3.6 to 13.5); and, probable depression (aRR=2.3; 95% CI 1.6 to 3.1). Conclusions: In this 12-year study, we documented a high burden of health conditions associated with WTC-exposure among FDNY EMS workers. These findings underscore the importance of continued monitoring and treatment of this workforce. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Alcoholic Beverages Diagnosis Digestive System Digestive System Diseases Emergency Responders Firefighters Hazardous Substances Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Mental Disorders Mental Health Neoplasms Nose Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs Stress, Psychological

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• Keywords:
  Airway-obstruction Alcoholism Cancer Clinical-diagnosis Digestive-system Emergency-responders Employee-exposure Fire-fighters Gastrointestinal-system-disorders Hazardous-materials Hazardous-waste-cleanup Medical-monitoring Medical-rescue-services Medical-screening Mental-disorders Mental-stress Nasal-disorders Occupational-exposure Paramedical-services Physiological-effects Psychological-effects Rescue-workers Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• 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
• Pages in Document:
  13-20
• Volume:
  73
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046064
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2016 Jan; 73(1):13-20
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Mayris P. Webber, Bureau of Health Services, Fire Department of the City of New York, 9 Metrotech Center, 5E-63-K, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
• Email:
  Mayris.Webber@fdny.nyc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Fire Department
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110701
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20170331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8c06e20ae904428c1c607f212bfb1dca86d5da92c5272a97eb67527fb342adc831bcc018665c45f0388ff197a688db680f4379be27abdb5e0af8a365572fcb42
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201240/cdc_201240_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 405.34 KB ]