Nutrition/behavior/psychiatric: #36 Psychological impact of the september 11 attacks on hispanics in manhattan, new york city

PURPOSE: The prevalences of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression were elevated in Manhattan after the September 11 terrorist attacks, particularly among persons of Hispanic ethnicity. We examined the role that personal characteristics and event-exposures played in determining the elevated risk of PTSD and depression among Hispanics. METHODS: We used data from a random digit dial survey of a representative sample of adult residents of Manhattan living below 110th St. Participants were interviewed about personal characteristics, exposure to the attacks, and psychological symptoms after September 11. Whites, African Americans (AAs) and Hispanics were included in this analysis. RESULTS: Among 861 respondents, 78.4% were white, 5.9% were African-American and 15.7% were Hispanic. 52.5% were women and mean age was 42.5. Overall prevalence of PTSD was 7.8% and depression was 9.8%; among Hispanics, prevalence of PTSD was 13.8% and depression was 20.4%. Hispanics who had experienced 2 or more life stressors in the 12 months before September 11 or had household income below $30,000 had higher prevalences of PTSD (52.5% and 20.9% respectively) and Hispanics who lived near the World Trade Center or were women had higher prevalences of depression (47.6% and 29.7% respectively) than other Hispanics, whites and AAs. Multivariate logistic models adjusted for event exposures and personal characteristics suggest that these increases represented significant multiplicative interactions (p < 0.2). CONCLUSION: Hispanics with prior life stressors or hardships, who lived close to the attacks, or were women had more psychological sequelae of the September 11 attacks than other racial/ethnic groups with those same characteristics. These Hispanics were more psychologically affected by the September 11 attacks, possibly due to differences in cultural, community or minority experience. Hispanics may be at higher risk of mental health consequences of major disasters.