Citation

Yip J, Zeig-Owens R, Hall CB, Webber MP, Olivieri B, Schwartz T, Kelly KJ, Prezant DJ. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2016; 58(2): 200-206.

Affiliation

Fire Department of the City of New York (Ms Yip, Dr Zeig-Owens, Dr Webber, Ms Olivieri, Ms Schwartz, Dr Kelly, Dr Prezant), Bureau of Health Services, Brooklyn; Montefiore Medical Center (Ms Yip, Dr Zeig-Owens, Ms Olivieri, Ms Schwartz), Department of Medicine; Department of Pulmonary Medicine (Dr Prezant); Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (Dr Webber); Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Dr Webber and Dr Hall), Department of Epidemiology and Population Health; and Department of Medicine (Dr Prezant), Pulmonary Division, Bronx, New York.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/JOM.0000000000000597

PMID

26849265

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Studies have reported reduced health-related quality of life (HrQoL) in rescue/recovery workers for years postdisaster. Few have examined specific postdisaster physical and mental health conditions as mediators of the association between exposure to disaster and HrQoL.

METHODS: We used the Short Form-12 to measure HrQoL in 7190 male World Trade Center (WTC)-exposed first responders. Potential mediators included physician diagnoses obtained from medical records and mental health conditions obtained from questionnaires.

RESULTS: Among moderately and highly WTC-exposed workers, health conditions fully mediated the observed relationship between WTC-exposure and physical health functioning of HrQoL, and substantially mediated the association between WTC-exposure and mental health functioning.

CONCLUSIONS: Because WTC-related health conditions explain the relationship between WTC-exposure and HrQoL, medical monitoring with treatment of affected populations is necessary to mitigate the adverse effects of WTC-exposure on HrQoL.

Language: en