A systematic review of probable posttraumatic stress disorder in first responders following man-made mass violence

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 229; no. 1; pp. 21 - 26
• Main Author: Wilson, Laura C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 30-09-2015
• Subjects: Cross-Sectional Studies; Emergency Responders - psychology; Emergency Responders - statistics & numerical data; Emergency services; Humans; Mass Casualty Incidents; Occupational Diseases - diagnosis; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational Diseases - psychology; Psychiatry; Psychopathology; Reproducibility of Results; Rescue Work - statistics & numerical data; Rescue workers; Sample Size; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Terrorism; Terrorism - psychology; Trauma; Violence - psychology; Rescue workers; Emergency services; Psychopathology; Terrorism; Trauma
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.06.015

Abstract The current study was a systematic review examining probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in first responders following man-made mass violence. A systematic literature search yielded 20 studies that fit the inclusion criteria. The prevalence rates of probable PTSD across all 20 studies ranged from 1.3% to 22.0%. Fifteen of the 20 articles focused on first responders following the September 11th terrorist attacks and many of the studies used the same participant recruitment pools. Overall, the results of the systematic review described here suggest that our understanding of PTSD in first responders following man-made mass violence is based on a very small set of articles that have focused on a few particular events. This paper is meant to serve as a call for additional research and to encourage more breadth in the specific incidents that are examined.