| Title |
Prevalence of PTSD and common mental disorders amongst ambulance personnel: a systematic review and meta-analysis
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, June 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00127-018-1539-5 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Katherine Petrie, Josie Milligan-Saville, Aimée Gayed, Mark Deady, Andrea Phelps, Lisa Dell, David Forbes, Richard A. Bryant, Rafael A. Calvo, Nicholas Glozier, Samuel B. Harvey |
| Abstract |
There is increasing concern regarding the mental health impact of first responder work, with some reports suggesting ambulance personnel may be at particularly high risk. Through this systematic review and meta-analysis we aimed to determine the prevalence of mental health conditions among ambulance personnel worldwide. A systematic search and screening process was conducted to identify studies for inclusion in the review. To be eligible, studies had to report original quantitative data on the prevalence of at least one of the following mental health outcome(s) of interest (PTSD, depression, anxiety, general psychological distress) for ambulance personnel samples. Quality of the studies was assessed using a validated methodological rating tool. Random effects modelling was used to estimate pooled prevalence, as well as subgroup analyses and meta-regressions for five variables implicated in heterogeneity. In total, 941 articles were identified across all sources, with 95 full-text articles screened to confirm eligibility. Of these, 27 studies were included in the systematic review, reporting on a total of 30,878 ambulance personnel. A total of 18 studies provided necessary quantitative information and were retained for entry in the meta-analysis. The results demonstrated estimated prevalence rates of 11% for PTSD, 15% for depression, 15% for anxiety, and 27% for general psychological distress amongst ambulance personnel, with date of data collection a significant influence upon observed heterogeneity. Ambulance personnel worldwide have a prevalence of PTSD considerably higher than rates seen in the general population, although there is some evidence that rates of PTSD may have decreased over recent decades. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 56 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 16 | 29% |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 13% |
| United States | 5 | 9% |
| Canada | 3 | 5% |
| Austria | 1 | 2% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 2% |
| Italy | 1 | 2% |
| Singapore | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 21 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 30 | 54% |
| Scientists | 16 | 29% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 8 | 14% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 392 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 392 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 71 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 45 | 11% |
| Researcher | 31 | 8% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 31 | 8% |
| Other | 18 | 5% |
| Other | 65 | 17% |
| Unknown | 131 | 33% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 75 | 19% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 69 | 18% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 51 | 13% |
| Unspecified | 9 | 2% |
| Social Sciences | 8 | 2% |
| Other | 36 | 9% |
| Unknown | 144 | 37% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 49. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 September 2022.
All research outputs
#845,657
of 25,349,035 outputs
Outputs from Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
#143
of 2,717 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#18,489
of 336,918 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
#6
of 47 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,349,035 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,717 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 47 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.