Offering a medical examination following disaster exposure does not result in long-lasting reassurance about health complaints.

Objective: This study tested the hypothesis that large-scale provision of individual medical examination will reduce persistent anxiety about health and subjective health complaints after involvement in an aviation disaster with alleged exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Method: Three measurements were performed: during the medical examination, 6 weeks later during consultation with the physician and 12 weeks after the first examination. Rescue workers (n=1736) and residents (n=339) involved in the disaster participated. Standardized questionnaires on health complaints and concerns were administered.

Results: Both groups reported increased health anxiety and somatic sensitivity after 12 weeks. Residents reported more posttraumatic stress symptoms, whereas rescue workers seemed to have gained a better quality of life and were somewhat reassured. Participants who attended the consultation with the physician showed increased reassurance scores after 6 weeks, but their worries had increased again on follow-up. However, nonattendees reported more health anxiety on follow-up. More participants judged participation to have had a positive impact, instead of a negative impact, on their health.

Conclusion: Our study does not indicate that a large-scale medical examination offered after involvement in a disaster has long-lasting reassuring effects and suggests that such examination may have counterproductive effects by sensitizing participants to health complaints.