Posttraumatic stress disorder and the risk of respiratory problems in World Trade Center responders: longitudinal test of a pathway.

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with high medical morbidity, but the nature of this association remains unclear. Among responders to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, PTSD is highly comorbid with lower respiratory symptoms (LRS), which cannot be explained by exposure alone. We sought to examine this association longitudinally to establish the direction of the effects and evaluate potential pathways to comorbidity.

Longitudinal study of the impact of psychological distress symptoms on new-onset upper gastrointestinal symptoms in World Trade Center responders.

Objectives: Research on the health of workers involved in the cleanup after the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11, 2001, has documented high rates of psychological distress and upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The current article examines the concurrent and longitudinal associations of psychological distress with development of new-onset upper GI symptoms in a large sample of WTC responders.

Methods: A cohort of 10,953 WTC responders monitored by the WTC Health Program participated in the study.