Relationship Between Persistent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Human Remains Exposure for Staten Island Barge and Landfill Recovery and Clean-Up Workers After 9/11

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cone, James E. ; Dechen T ; Ekenga CC ; Fairclough MA ; Farfel MR ; Gargano LM ; Imasuen J ; Miller-Archie SA ; Osahan S ; Perlman SE
• Description:
  After the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, recovery and clean-up efforts were concentrated at the WTC site and the Staten Island (SI) Fresh Kills landfill and barges. Research is limited regarding the long-term health effects of human remains exposure during clean-up and recovery work at the SI landfill and barges. We studied 1,592 WTC Health Registry enrollees who worked at the SI landfill, loading piers and barges after the 9/11/01 attacks to assess the relationship between human remains exposure and persistent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 10-11 years later. A dose-response relationship was found between frequency of human remains exposure and persistent PTSD (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): every day (AOR) = 4.77; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.00-11.52, almost every day (AOR) = 4.35; 95% CI: 1.75-10.80), and some days (AOR) = 2.98; 95% CI: 1.43-6.22). When exposed to human remains, sanitation workers had higher odds of persistent PTSD, compared to firefighters and police. In addition, respondents who scored lower on a social support scale had higher odds of persistent PTSD. The findings highlight the need for strategies to reduce the risk of PTSD associated with exposure to human remains in future disasters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  9/11 Author Keywords: World Trade Center Disaster Sites Health Effects Human Remains Post-traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD Waste Disposal World Trade Center WTC
• ISSN:
  1522-4821
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050896
• Citation:
  Int J Emerg Mental Health Hum Resil 2015 Jul; 17(3):661-667
• Contact Point Address:
  Monique A. Fairclough, World Trade Center Health Registry, Division of Epidemiology, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Long Island City, NY, USA
• Email:
  mfairclo@health.nyc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Health/Mental Hygiene
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090430
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:682f98aeaa49dddae9edaf8703e3fb2f71a221dd3d23ce5c0196bc1642d874705d3b1d7513534cb0459ff8ca927d0215b577e510c3e1a95bb5220c66ee675bbc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211086/cdc_211086_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 456.19 KB ]