Skip Navigation



American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on December 11, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwk029
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
165/4/410    most recent
kwk029v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dorn, T.
Right arrow Articles by van der Zee, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dorn, T.
Right arrow Articles by van der Zee, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Disaster-related Stress as a Prospective Risk Factor for Hypertension in Parents of Adolescent Fire Victims

Tina Dorn1, C. Joris Yzermans1, Henk Guijt2 and Jouke van der Zee1

1 NIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research), Utrecht, the Netherlands
2 Medical Center Waterland Oost, Volendam, the Netherlands

Correspondence to Tina Dorn, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, P.O. Box 1568, 3500 BN Utrecht, the Netherlands (e-mail: t.dorn{at}nivel.nl).

Life stress has been related to hypertension in various studies, but well-designed research carried out in disaster settings is scarce. Moreover, most research focuses on the primary victims and disregards effects on their caregivers. In a prospective, population-based cohort study, the authors tested the hypothesis that parents of adolescents who had been involved in the Volendam, Netherlands, pub fire on January 1, 2001 (n = 418) were more at risk of developing hypertension than parents from the same community whose children had not been involved in the fire (n = 1,462). Only residents without prior evidence of hypertension were included. The follow-up period covered 4 years (2001–2004). Assessment of hypertension was based on the records of family practitioners and pharmacies. The odds of developing new hypertension were 1.48 times higher in parents of fire victims than in control parents during the follow-up period (odds ratio = 1.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.09, 2.02). All analyses controlled for age, gender, socioeconomic status, family practice, history of chronic disease, and number of contacts with the family practitioner during follow-up. Since hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity, it is important to provide interventions that help people fight the negative effects of disaster-related stress.

blood pressure; burns; disasters; family practice; hypertension; life change events; prospective studies; stress, psychological

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.