Posttraumatic Stress in Fire fighters

소방대원의 외상후 스트레스 실태

Purpose : This study is a descriptive research to provide basic factors of posttraumatic stress in Firefighters. This study was carried out to develop the effective program for the fire fighters to cope with the posttraumatic stress following the disasters. Methods : The questionnaires were collected among fire fighters who serviced in K and I community from April 1 to June 30 in 2008. Total 304 questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS WIN program for descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and t-test. Results : 1. 48.0% of 300 fire fighters were at the age of 31-40, and 42.3% were under 30. 2. Work burden had a significant difference of 2.30 in low-risk group, 2.60 in high-risk group(t-value=-3.85, p=0.00). However, life event had no significant difference 0.79 event in low-risk group, 1.41 event in high-risk group(t-value=-2.27, p=0.24). 3. Concerning posttraumatic stress factors, there was positive correlation between mobilization impact level r=0.38(P<0.01), work burden r=0.38(p<0.01), and life event r=0.27(p<0.01). 4. According to the Symptom Check List-Revised(SCL-90-R), somatization had a significant differences(t-value=5.46, p=0.00), obsessive-compulsive(t-value=7.16, p=0.00), interpersonal sensitivity(t-value=6.15, p=0.00), depression(t-value=6.62, p=0.00), anxiety (t-value=7.33, p=0.00), hostility(t-value=5.94, p=0.00), phobia anxiety(t-value=6.85, p=0.00), paranoid ideation(t-value=5.55, p=0.00), psychotism(t-value=6.52, p=0.00) in low-risk and high-risk group. Conclusion : As a consequence, mobilization impact, work burden, and life event were the influential factors on posttraumatic stress. Also, high-risk group revealed significantly higher score on all 9 scales. The information obtained from surveys made recommendation to develop the intervention of stress management to control mobilization impact and posttraumatic stress.