Post-Traumatic Stress in New York City Decreased Substantially Six Months after Sept. 11 Attacks, According to Research Released Today

NEW YORK CITY, Sept. 10 ??? The prevalence of probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in New York City declined dramatically in the first six months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, evidence that New Yorkers quickly recovered from some of the mental health effects of the attacks, according to new research led by scientists at The New York Academy of Medicine. The study was published today in the new issue of the the American Journal of Epidemiology, a peer-reviewed journal.

This study is the first to document the changing levels of PTSD since Sept. 11, 2001, and one of the few studies to estimate the mental health consequences of a large-scale disaster in the general population. Next week, the Academy will begin new research to assess New Yorkers??? long-term PTSD two years after that tragic day.

???There was a high burden of symptoms up front, but this study suggests tremendous resilience among New Yorkers and rapid resolution of many symptoms,??? said lead author Sandro Galea, M.D., M.P.H, Dr. P.H., of the findings. Galea is a Medical Epidemiologist and Associate Director of the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at the Academy.

Approximately 7.5 percent of Manhattan residents were suffering from probable PTSD in the first month after Sept. 11, but that rate dropped to 0.6 percent of the population after six months had passed, according to the study, which was based on random-digit-dial telephone surveys conducted one, four and six months after the attacks. In the five boroughs of New York City, 1.5 percent of residents (or 91,000 people) were experiencing probable PTSD six months after the attack.

Although the prevalence of PTSD was consistently higher among those who were directly affected by the World Trade Center attacks, even people who were not ???directly affected??? experienced PTSD, the study found. (???Directly affected??? people are those who: were in the World Trade Center complex when the planes struck; were injured during the attacks; lost possessions or property; had a friend or relative killed; lost a job as a result of the attacks; or took part in rescue efforts). One-third of those who continued to suffer from PTSD after six months had not been directly affected by the terrorist attacks, suggesting that the consequences of a disaster like the Sept. 11 attacks are far-reaching in the general population.

???Persons living in New York City who were not directly affected by the attacks were likely indirectly affected through multiple avenues including word of mouth, watching the events in person or on television, and the disruption of services,??? Galea said.

Even though many New York City residents are no longer widely suffering from full-blown PTSD related to Sept. 11, other mental health consequences may persist, the study shows. While more than two-thirds of the cases of probable PTSD related to Sept. 11 were resolved by March 2002, 5.3 percent of New York City residents were still experiencing ???subsyndromal PTSD.??? People with this condition keep reliving the event, and either find themselves avoiding memories of that day, or are unusually jumpy or easily startled.

The Academy???s first survey of post-Sept. 11 PTSD trends was conducted one month after Sept. 11 among 1,008 Manhattan adults living south of 110th St. The second survey was conducted after four months among 2,001 residents of the five boroughs. The third survey was conducted after six months among 2,752 residents of the five boroughs. The first two surveys were conducted in English and Spanish; the third survey was also conducted in Chinese.

Co-authors of the study include: David Vlahov, Ph.D., Director of the Academy???s Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES); Jennifer Ahern, M.P.H., a research analyst with CUES; Heidi Resnick, Ph.D., and Dean Kilpatrick, Ph.D., both of the National Crime Victims??? Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston; Ezra Susser, M.D., M.P.H, Dr. P.H., of the Division of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Joel Gold, M.D., of Bellevue Hospital Center; and Michael Bucuvalas, Ph.D., of Schulman, Ronca and Bucuvalas, Inc.

The New York Academy of Medicine is a non-profit institution founded in 1847 that is dedicated to enhancing the health of the public through research education and advocacy with a particular focus on urban populations, especially the disadvantaged.

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