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Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later

Background: This study assesses long-term physical and emotional symptoms and unmet needs in direct survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist bombing 18 ½ years after the event. Methods: A telephone questionnaire assessed psychiatric symptoms, health problems and coping strategies in 138 terrori...

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Autores principales: Tucker, Phebe, Pfefferbaum, Betty, Watson, Kevin, Hester, Landon, Czapla, Christopher
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911245/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572729
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11020019
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author Tucker, Phebe
Pfefferbaum, Betty
Watson, Kevin
Hester, Landon
Czapla, Christopher
author_facet Tucker, Phebe
Pfefferbaum, Betty
Watson, Kevin
Hester, Landon
Czapla, Christopher
author_sort Tucker, Phebe
collection PubMed
description Background: This study assesses long-term physical and emotional symptoms and unmet needs in direct survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist bombing 18 ½ years after the event. Methods: A telephone questionnaire assessed psychiatric symptoms, health problems and coping strategies in 138 terrorism survivors (of whom 80% were physically injured) from a state registry of directly exposed persons, and 171 non-exposed community controls. Structured survey questions measured psychiatric symptoms, posttraumatic growth, general health problems and health care utilization. Open-ended questions explored survivors’ most important terrorism-related problems and needs. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods were undertaken. Results: Survivors reported similar rates of major health problems and general health care utilization, more anxiety and depression symptoms, and more ancillary health care use than controls on structured assessments. Survivors also reported posttraumatic growth, using several positive coping skills. Open-ended questions identified survivors’ specific continuing bombing-related problems, and needs which were not disclosed on the questionnaire; these included many lasting physical injuries, health problems (especially hearing difficulties), specific posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, other emotional symptoms, work and financial problems, interpersonal issues, and desires to help others. Conclusions: Results suggest that extended recovery services are needed long after terrorism exposure, and that open-ended assessment is useful to identify those requiring services.
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spelling pubmed-79112452021-02-28 Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later Tucker, Phebe Pfefferbaum, Betty Watson, Kevin Hester, Landon Czapla, Christopher Behav Sci (Basel) Article Background: This study assesses long-term physical and emotional symptoms and unmet needs in direct survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist bombing 18 ½ years after the event. Methods: A telephone questionnaire assessed psychiatric symptoms, health problems and coping strategies in 138 terrorism survivors (of whom 80% were physically injured) from a state registry of directly exposed persons, and 171 non-exposed community controls. Structured survey questions measured psychiatric symptoms, posttraumatic growth, general health problems and health care utilization. Open-ended questions explored survivors’ most important terrorism-related problems and needs. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods were undertaken. Results: Survivors reported similar rates of major health problems and general health care utilization, more anxiety and depression symptoms, and more ancillary health care use than controls on structured assessments. Survivors also reported posttraumatic growth, using several positive coping skills. Open-ended questions identified survivors’ specific continuing bombing-related problems, and needs which were not disclosed on the questionnaire; these included many lasting physical injuries, health problems (especially hearing difficulties), specific posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, other emotional symptoms, work and financial problems, interpersonal issues, and desires to help others. Conclusions: Results suggest that extended recovery services are needed long after terrorism exposure, and that open-ended assessment is useful to identify those requiring services. MDPI 2021-01-29 /pmc/articles/PMC7911245/ /pubmed/33572729 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11020019 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Tucker, Phebe
Pfefferbaum, Betty
Watson, Kevin
Hester, Landon
Czapla, Christopher
Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later
title Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later
title_full Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later
title_fullStr Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later
title_full_unstemmed Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later
title_short Problems and Needs Persist for Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors Many Years Later
title_sort problems and needs persist for oklahoma city bombing survivors many years later
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911245/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572729
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11020019
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