title: Predictors of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after the AZF chemical factory explosion on 21 September 2001, in Toulouse, France.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse in the general population the prevalence and predictors of symptomatology consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (S-PTSD) 18 months after an industrial explosion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample of 1191 city inhabitants, including an oversample of the immediate area (<3 km). S-PTSD was measured by the self-administered Impact of Event Scale-Revised. The relation between S-PTSD and individual vulnerability factors, immediate exposure and post-trauma factors was analysed by gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  S-PTSD was more prevalent in the immediate area than in the peripheral area (women 19% vs 8%; men 8% vs 2%, p<0.01). In the immediate area, S-PTSD was independently associated with birth outside France (men: OR(a) = 13.9, 95% CI 3.7 to 52.8; women: OR(a) = 2.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 4.2), age more than 40 years (men: OR(a) = 4.3, 95% CI 1.01 to 18.2; women: OR(a) = 2.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.5), previous psychotropic treatment (men: OR(a) = 11.5, 95% CI 2.4 to 53.6), proximity to the explosion (less educated men only) (OR(a) = 9.3, 95% CI 1.9 to 44.7), rescue efforts (men: OR(a) = 5.2, 95% CI 1.5 to 18.2), temporarily uninhabitable home (men: OR(a) = 5.8, 95% CI 1.9 to 18.1), personal injury (women: OR(a) = 3.7, 95% CI 1.7 to 8.4), financial difficulties (men: OR(a) = 17.4, 95% CI 4.2 to 72.1; women: OR(a) = 3.4, 95% CI 1.7 to 7.1) and inconvenience due to closure of public services (women: OR(a) = 4.1, 95% CI 1.6 to 9.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individual vulnerability, exposure and post-trauma factors were associated with S-PTSD. Vulnerable subgroups, defined by low socioeconomic characteristics may warrant focused screening after such disasters.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Département Santé Travail, Faculté de Médecine, Toulouse, France. stephanie.riviere@cict.fr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rivière
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schwoebel
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lapierre-Duval
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guinard
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gardette
authors.forename: Th
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002617:Chemical Industry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005107:Explosions; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014504:Urban Health