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Prediction of the occurrence and intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder in victims 32 months after bomb attack

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Louis Jehel ,
Sabrina Paterniti ,
Alain Brunet ,
Clara Duchet  and
Julien Daniel Guelfi
Louis Jehel*
Affiliation:
Unité de psychiatrie et psychotraumatisme, CHU Tenon (AP–HP), 4, rue de la Chine, 75970Paris cedex 20, France
Sabrina Paterniti
Affiliation:
Unité Inserm 360 (Dr. A Alpérovitch), Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 47, boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75013Paris, France
Alain Brunet
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Canada
Clara Duchet
Affiliation:
Unité de psychiatrie et psychotraumatisme, CHU Tenon (AP–HP), 4, rue de la Chine, 75970Paris cedex 20, France
Julien Daniel Guelfi
Affiliation:
Université Paris V (UFR Cochin Port-Royal), Clinique des Maladies Mentales et de l’Encéphale, 100, rue de la Santé, 75674Paris cedex 14, France
*
*E-mail address: louis.jehel@tnn.ap-hop-paris.fr
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Abstract

Introduction

Our objective was to identify factors that predict occurrence and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a terrorism attack.

Population

We evaluated 32 victims of a bomb attack in a Paris subway in December 1996 at 6 and 32 months.

Methods

Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical data and physical injuries were used to predict PTSD occurrence and severity in 32 victims. The Watson’s PTSD Inventory (PTSD-I) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) by Horowitz were used to evaluate occurrence and severity of PTSD, respectively.

Results

Thirty-nine percent of participants met PTSD criteria at 6 months, 25% still had PTSD at 32 months. Women had PTSD 32 months after the bomb attack more frequently than men. Employment predicted PTSD severity at 32 months. PTSD scores assessed by PTSD-I at 6 months were significantly and positively associated with IES scores at 32-month follow-up (r = 0.55, P = 0.004). Psychotropic drug use before the bomb attack significantly predicted PTSD occurrence and severity at 6 and 32 months. In a linear regression model, physical injuries, employment status and psychotropic drug use before the bomb attack were independent predictors of severity of PTSD at 32 months.

Conclusions

Bomb attack exposure resulted in persisting PTSD in a significant proportion of victims; the severity was predicted at 32 months by physical injuries and psychotropic drug use before the terrorism attack and by the PTSD score few months after the bomb attack.

Keywords

PTSDPredictive factorTerrorism attackPsychotropic drug
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , June 2003 , pp. 172 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS 2003

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