American journal of industrial medicine
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Comparative Study
Increased rates of asthma among World Trade Center disaster responders.
Studies have documented high rates of asthma symptoms among responders to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster. However, whether there are increased rates of asthma among responders compared to the general population is unknown. ⋯ WTC responders are at an increased risk of asthma as measured by lifetime prevalence or active disease.
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The goal of this paper is to investigate the respective influence of work characteristics, the effort-reward ratio, and overcommitment on the poor mental health of out-of-hospital care providers. ⋯ Emergency medical services should pay attention to the way employees perceive their efforts and the rewarding aspects of their work: an imbalance of those aspects is associated with poor mental health. Low perceived esteem appeared particularly associated with poor mental health. This suggests that supervisors of emergency medical services should enhance the value of their employees' work. Employees with overcommitment should also receive appropriate consideration. Preventive measures should target individual perceptions of effort and reward in order to improve mental health in prehospital care providers.
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This study examines the prevalence of physician-diagnosed respiratory conditions and mental health symptoms in firefighters and emergency medical service workers up to 9 years after rescue/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center (WTC). ⋯ Self-reported and physician-diagnosed respiratory conditions remain common, especially among those who arrived earliest at the WTC site. OAD was associated with the lowest pulmonary function. Since respiratory and mental health conditions remain prevalent, ongoing monitoring and treatment is important.