Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Related Factors in Firefighters of a Firestation.
- Author:
Soon Chan KWON
1
;
Jaechul SONG
;
Soo Jin LEE
;
Inah KIM
;
Jaewoo KOH
;
Hyunchul RYOU
;
Seok Hyun KIM
;
Daeho KIM
;
Seung Ah JUNG
Author Information
1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Korea. jsong@hanyang.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Firefighters;
PTSD;
IES-R-K;
Traumatic events;
Cutoff point
- MeSH:
Depression;
Emergencies;
Firefighters;
Fires;
Humans;
Male;
Mental Health;
Prevalence;
Questionnaires;
Rescue Work;
Single Person;
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
- From:Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
2008;20(3):193-204
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the factors related with posttraumatic symptoms and to estimate the prevalence of posttraumatic disorder of urban male firefighters. METHODS: From a study sample comprising 260 male firefighters from one fire station, the responses from 146 who had experienced one or more traumatic events, responded to the 'Impact of Event Scale-Revised Korean version' (IES-R-K) and didn't show any evidence of depression were analyzed. We surveyed the firefighters using a self-administered questionnaire including general characteristics, job-related characteristics, IES-R-K, and a 'Firefighters and paramedics' incident stressor'. RESULTS: The mean value of IES-R-K in this study was 11.3 and it was higher in the married firefighters than in the unmarried firefighters (p=0.005) and in the 24-hr shift workers than in the ordinary day shift workers (p=0.032). The frequency of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of the firefighters in this study using IES-R-K was 13.7%, with a cutoff point of 24/25. The overall number of experiences of 25 traumatic events was larger in emergency medical personnel and rescue workers than in other work functions (p=0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of PTSD symptoms in firefighters was estimated to 13.7% using IES-RK and was higher than the prevalence of PTSD in the general population. A program to manage the mental health and provide early detection for mental illness for firefighters is needed.
