Cognitive impairment among World Trade Center responders: long-term implications of re-experiencing the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bromet EJ ; Clouston SAP ; Gonzalez A ; Kotov R ; Luft BJ ; Pietrzak RH ; Richards M ; Ruggero CJ ; Spiro A III
• Description:
  Introduction: During the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks, responders who helped in search, rescue, and recovery endured multiple traumatic and toxic exposures. One-fifth subsequently developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD has been linked to dementia in veterans. This study examined the association between WTC-related PTSD and cognitive impairment (CI) in WTC responders. Methods: A one-third sample of responders (N = 818) reporting for annual monitoring visits were screened for cognitive impairment and dementia using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment from January 2014-April 2015. Concurrent diagnoses of PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD), as well as serial PTSD and depressive symptom inventories, collected since 2002, were examined in relation to current CI. Results: Approximately 12.8% and 1.2% of responders in this sample respectively had scores indicative of CI and possible dementia. Current PTSD and MDD were associated with CI. Longitudinal results revealed that re-experiencing symptoms were consistently associated with CI (aRR = 2.88, 95% confidence interval = 1.35-6.22), whereas longitudinal increases in other PTSD and depressive symptoms in the years before screening were evident only among those with CI. Conclusions: Analyses replicated results from Veterans studies and further highlighted the importance of re-experiencing symptoms, a major component of PTSD that was consistently predictive of CI 14 years later. Clinicians should monitor CI when treating individuals with chronic PTSD. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Epidemiology Nervous System Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Epidemiology Brain Function Cognitive Function Cognitive Impairment Disaster Response Disasters Emergency Responders Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Psychiatry PTSD Rescue Workers World Trade Center WTC

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• ISSN:
  2352-8729
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; Massachusetts ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  67-75
• Volume:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048844
• Citation:
  Alzheimers Dement Diagn Assess Dis Monit 2016 Aug; 4:67-75
• Contact Point Address:
  Sean A. P. Clouston, Program in Public Health, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
• Email:
  sean.clouston@stonybrookmedicine.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:946ce60687027694877fe62181223fc997995880bfc1864e100e067d53a17758518565769efa7d2218559035f2aec7a78c6f375306b7adffaf82b51e33f4b56d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203472/cdc_203472_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 695.31 KB ]