Psychiatric medication use among Manhattan residents following the World Trade Center disaster.
To assess medication use in New York after the September 11th attacks, a telephone survey was conducted in October 2001 (N = 1,008). The prevalence of psychiatric medication use 30 days before the disaster was 8.9 and 11.6% 30 days after, a small but significant increase. The most important factor predicting postdisaster use was predisaster use--92% of those who used medications postdisaster used them predisaster. In addition, 3.3% used psychiatric medications 30 days postdisaster, but not 30 days before. Those who had panic attacks, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and insurance coverage, were the most likely medicated (26.5%). However, among those who used postdisaster medications (n = 129), new users tended to be those with panic attacks (44.1%) and those with panic attacks and PTSD (69.2%).
Boscarino
Joseph A
JA
Division of Health and Science Policy, New York Academy of Medicine, New York 10029-5293, USA. jboscarino@nyam.org
Galea
Sandro
S
Ahern
Jennifer
J
Resnick
Heidi
H
Vlahov
David
D
D000328:Adult; D000401:Aircraft; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D023481:Terrorism; D014505:Urban Population
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs