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Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011
OBJECTIVES: We analyzed tornado-related injuries seen at hospitals and risk factors for tornado injury, and screened for post-traumatic stress following a statewide tornado-emergency in Alabama in April 2011. METHODS: We conducted a chart abstraction of 1,398 patients at 39 hospitals, mapped injured...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2013
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867464/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24367581 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083038 |
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author | Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas Parker, Erin M. Ovalle, Fernando Noe, Rebecca E. Bell, Jeneita Xu, Likang Morrison, Melissa A. Mertzlufft, Caitlin E. Sugerman, David E. |
author_facet | Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas Parker, Erin M. Ovalle, Fernando Noe, Rebecca E. Bell, Jeneita Xu, Likang Morrison, Melissa A. Mertzlufft, Caitlin E. Sugerman, David E. |
author_sort | Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: We analyzed tornado-related injuries seen at hospitals and risk factors for tornado injury, and screened for post-traumatic stress following a statewide tornado-emergency in Alabama in April 2011. METHODS: We conducted a chart abstraction of 1,398 patients at 39 hospitals, mapped injured cases, and conducted a case-control telephone survey of 98 injured cases along with 200 uninjured controls. RESULTS: Most (n = 1,111, 79.5%) injuries treated were non-life threatening (Injury Severity Score ≤15). Severe injuries often affected head (72.9%) and chest regions (86.4%). Mobile home residents showed the highest odds of injury (OR, 6.98; 95% CI: 2.10–23.20). No severe injuries occurred in tornado shelters. Within permanent homes, the odds of injury were decreased for basements (OR, 0.13; 95% CI: 0.04–0.40), bathrooms (OR, 0.22; 95% CI: 0.06–0.78), hallways (OR, 0.31; 95% CI: 0.11–0.90) and closets (OR, 0.25; 95% CI: 0.07–0.80). Exposure to warnings via the Internet (aOR, 0.20; 95% CI: 0.09–0.49), television (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI: 0.24–0.83), and sirens (aOR, 0.50; 95% CI: 0.30–0.85) decreased the odds of injury, and residents frequently exposed to tornado sirens had lower odds of injury. The prevalence of PTSD in respondents was 22.1% and screening positive for PTSD symptoms was associated with tornado-related loss events. CONCLUSIONS: Primary prevention, particularly improved shelter access, and media warnings, seem essential to prevent severe tornado-injury. Small rooms such as bathrooms may provide some protection within permanent homes when no underground shelter is available. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3867464 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-38674642013-12-23 Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas Parker, Erin M. Ovalle, Fernando Noe, Rebecca E. Bell, Jeneita Xu, Likang Morrison, Melissa A. Mertzlufft, Caitlin E. Sugerman, David E. PLoS One Research Article OBJECTIVES: We analyzed tornado-related injuries seen at hospitals and risk factors for tornado injury, and screened for post-traumatic stress following a statewide tornado-emergency in Alabama in April 2011. METHODS: We conducted a chart abstraction of 1,398 patients at 39 hospitals, mapped injured cases, and conducted a case-control telephone survey of 98 injured cases along with 200 uninjured controls. RESULTS: Most (n = 1,111, 79.5%) injuries treated were non-life threatening (Injury Severity Score ≤15). Severe injuries often affected head (72.9%) and chest regions (86.4%). Mobile home residents showed the highest odds of injury (OR, 6.98; 95% CI: 2.10–23.20). No severe injuries occurred in tornado shelters. Within permanent homes, the odds of injury were decreased for basements (OR, 0.13; 95% CI: 0.04–0.40), bathrooms (OR, 0.22; 95% CI: 0.06–0.78), hallways (OR, 0.31; 95% CI: 0.11–0.90) and closets (OR, 0.25; 95% CI: 0.07–0.80). Exposure to warnings via the Internet (aOR, 0.20; 95% CI: 0.09–0.49), television (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI: 0.24–0.83), and sirens (aOR, 0.50; 95% CI: 0.30–0.85) decreased the odds of injury, and residents frequently exposed to tornado sirens had lower odds of injury. The prevalence of PTSD in respondents was 22.1% and screening positive for PTSD symptoms was associated with tornado-related loss events. CONCLUSIONS: Primary prevention, particularly improved shelter access, and media warnings, seem essential to prevent severe tornado-injury. Small rooms such as bathrooms may provide some protection within permanent homes when no underground shelter is available. Public Library of Science 2013-12-18 /pmc/articles/PMC3867464/ /pubmed/24367581 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083038 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas Parker, Erin M. Ovalle, Fernando Noe, Rebecca E. Bell, Jeneita Xu, Likang Morrison, Melissa A. Mertzlufft, Caitlin E. Sugerman, David E. Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 |
title | Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 |
title_full | Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 |
title_fullStr | Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 |
title_full_unstemmed | Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 |
title_short | Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011 |
title_sort | injuries and post-traumatic stress following historic tornados: alabama, april 2011 |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867464/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24367581 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083038 |
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