Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T05:53:48.100Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changes in Psychiatric Emergency Room Visits Following the Boston Marathon Bombing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2019

Amber Frank ,
Gaddy Noy ,
Clifton Chow  and
H. Stephen Leff
Amber Frank*
Affiliation:
Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA
Gaddy Noy
Affiliation:
New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
Clifton Chow
Affiliation:
Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA
H. Stephen Leff
Affiliation:
Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Amber Frank, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (e-mail: aafrank@cha.harvard.edu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

This study reviews patient encounters at a Boston-area community hospital Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) following the Boston Marathon bombings, with the goal of describing the impact of terrorist attacks on PES encounters.

Methods:

All PES encounters for 2 months preceding and 2 months following the bombing were identified in the electronic medical record. Demographics, current and past psychiatric problems, and trauma history were assessed for all records. Encounters seen post-bombing were compared with those before the bombing.

Results:

Demographics, current and past psychiatric problems, and trauma history were not significantly different before versus after the bombing; 36 of 440 (8.2%) post-bombing encounters directly mentioned the bombings. New-onset posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms caused by the bombing occurred in only 4 encounters (0.9%).

Conclusions:

PES encounters after a terrorist event are likely to mirror those seen before a terrorist event, with only a minority of encounters presenting for new PTSD or acute stress disorder.

Keywords

bombscommunity mental health servicesemergency servicespsychiatric terrorismpsychologicalstress
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 178 - 182
Copyright
© 2019 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Beinecke, R, Raymond, A, Cisse, M, et al.The mental health response to the Boston bombing: a three-year review. Int J Mental Health. 2017;46(2):89-124. doi: 10.1080/00207411.2017.1294969.Google Scholar
Dimaggio, C, Galea, S, Richardson, LD. Emergency department visits for behavioral and mental health care after a terrorist attack. Ann Emerg Med. 2007;50(3):327-334. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.10.021.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schlenger, WE, Caddell, JM, Ebert, L, et al.Psychological reactions to terrorist attacks. JAMA. 2002;288(5):581-588. doi: 10.1001/jama.288.5.581.Google ScholarPubMed
Oser, M, Shah, SB, Gitlin, D. Psychiatry department response to the Boston Marathon bombings within a level-1 trauma center. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2015;23(3):195-200. doi: 10.1097/hrp.0000000000000049.Google ScholarPubMed
Wilson, LC. A systematic review of probable posttraumatic stress disorder in first responders following man-made mass violence. Psychiatry Res. 2015;229(1-2):21-26. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.06.015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Claassen, C, Kashner, T, Xuan, L, et al.Psychiatric emergency “surge capacity” following acts of terrorism and mass violence with high media impact: what is required? Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2011;33(3):287-293. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2011.01.015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schuster, MA, Stein, B, Jaycox, L, et al.A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. N Engl J Med. 2001;345(20):1507–1512. doi: 10.1056/nejm200111153452024.Google ScholarPubMed
Whalley, M, Brewin, C. Mental health following terrorist attacks. Br J Psychiatry. 2007;190(2):94-96. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.026427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association. Trauma- and stress-related disorders. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association; 2013. doi: 10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm07.Google Scholar
Derrick, B, Dobson-Mckittrick, A, Toher, D, et al. “Test statistics for comparing two proportions with partially overlapping samples.” J Appl Quant Methods. 2015;10(3):1-14.Google Scholar