Health conditions as mediators of the association between World Trade Center exposure and health-related quality of life in firefighters and ems workers

Jennifer Yip, Rachel Zeig-Owens, Charles B. Hall, Mayris P. Webber, Brianne Olivieri, Theresa Schwartz, Kerry J. Kelly, David J. Prezant

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

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 WTCexposure and mental health functioning. Conclusions: Because WTCrelated 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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)200-206
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume58
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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