1. Changes in Psychiatric Emergency Room Visits Following the Boston Marathon Bombing.
- Author
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Frank A, Noy G, Chow C, and Leff HS
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Boston, Emergency Service, Hospital organization & administration, Emergency Services, Psychiatric trends, Explosions, Female, Humans, Male, Marathon Running injuries, Marathon Running psychology, Middle Aged, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic psychology, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic therapy, Emergency Service, Hospital trends, Emergency Services, Psychiatric methods, Terrorism psychology
- 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.
- Published
- 2020
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