Austin-Ketch Tammy L, Violanti John, Fekedulegn Desta, Andrew Michael E, Burchfield Cecil M, Hartley Tara A
School of Nursing, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214, USA.
J Addict Nurs. 2012 Feb;23(1):22-9. doi: 10.3109/10884602.2011.645255.
The Buffalo Cardio-metabolic Occupational Police Stress study, an occupational cohort study of police officers, was conducted to evaluate physiologic and stress measures in a high-risk occupation where occupational exposure to difficult criminal situations can lead to physiologic and psychological health consequences among those who enforce the law. The chronic exposure to human tragedy may place police officers at special risk for mental health disorders and the potential for misuse of alcohol or drugs. While exact etiologies of post-traumatic stress were not determined by this study, overall post-traumatic stress (PTS) prevalence rates among the police officers was 35%, with 10% of individuals demonstrating severe PTS symptomatology. Waking cortisol measures tended to be higher among officers with more PTS symptomatology, with some gender related differences noted. Given the increase in incarcerations for addictions related offenses over the past 20 years and the chronic exposure to human suffering and tragedy, early recognition of PTS symptoms is essential in making the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress in high-risk occupational cohorts. Providing early entry into treatment and subsequently attempting to eliminate or minimize long-term consequences of post-traumatic stress can have a significant impact on the prevention of long term sequelae of chronic stress, such as the use or misuse of drugs or alcohol.
布法罗心血管代谢职业警察压力研究是一项针对警察的职业队列研究，旨在评估高危职业中的生理和压力指标。在这个职业中，接触困难犯罪情况可能会给执法人员带来生理和心理健康问题。长期接触人类悲剧可能使警察特别容易患上精神健康障碍，并有滥用酒精或药物的风险。虽然本研究未确定创伤后应激的确切病因，但警察中创伤后应激（PTS）的总体患病率为35%，其中10%的人表现出严重的PTS症状。有更多PTS症状的警察清醒时的皮质醇水平往往较高，并且存在一些性别差异。鉴于过去20年中因成瘾相关犯罪而被监禁的人数增加，以及长期接触人类苦难和悲剧，早期识别PTS症状对于诊断高危职业队列中的创伤后应激至关重要。尽早开始治疗并随后试图消除或最小化创伤后应激的长期后果，可能会对预防慢性应激的长期后遗症（如药物或酒精的使用或滥用）产生重大影响。
