title: Post-traumatic stress disorder and occupational characteristics of police officers in Republic of Korea: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  South Korean police officers have a greater workload compared to their counterparts in advanced countries. However, few studies have evaluated the occupational challenges that South Korean police officers face. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the police officer's job characteristics and risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among South Korean police officers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Police officers in South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  3817 police officers with a traumatic event over a 1-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Officers with a response to the Impact of Event Scale (revised Korean version) score of ≥ 26 were classified as high risk, and we evaluated their age, sex, department and rank, as well as the frequency and type of traumatic events that they experienced.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the respondents, 41.11% were classified as having a high risk of PTSD. From the perspective of the rank, Inspector group (46.0%) and Assistant Inspector group (42.7%) show the highest frequencies of PTSD. From the perspective of their working division, Intelligence and National Security Division (43.6%) show the highest frequency, followed by the Police Precinct (43.5%) and the Traffic Affairs Management Department (43.3%). It is shown that working in different departments was associated with the prevalence of PTSD (p=0.004).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high-risk classification was observed in 41.11% of all officers who had experienced traumatic events, and this frequency is greater than that for other specialised occupations (eg, firefighters). Therefore, we conclude that groups with an elevated proportion of high-risk respondents should be a priority for PTSD treatment, which may help increase its therapeutic effect and improve the awareness of PTSD among South Korean police officers.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea The Institute for Occupational Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: June-Hee
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7682-6023
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Inah
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea The Institute for Occupational Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Uk
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Won
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea The Institute for Occupational Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jaehoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016495:Police / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012306:Risk; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MENTAL HEALTH; PUBLIC HEALTH