SynthesisSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2012
Rescuers at risk: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of the worldwide current prevalence and correlates of PTSD in rescue workers.
Synthesis in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05061225 (The Efficacy of a Facebook-delivered Physical Activity Counselling Intervention on Mental Health in Firefighters), which is not on this map. Cited by 244 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Efficacy of a Facebook-delivered Physical Activity Counselling Intervention on Mental Health in Firefighters: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
244 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 685 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in healthcare workers before and during COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis on the mental health of emergency and urgent call-handlers and dispatchers.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Association of Physical and Emotional Parameters with Performance of Firefighters: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Psychological Variables Associated With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Firefighters: A Systematic Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2023Pooled it
- Work-related posttraumatic stress disorder in paramedics in comparison to data from the general population of working age. A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Cortisol response to traumatic stress to predict PTSD symptom development - a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Coping among public safety personnel: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2021Pooled it
- Health outcomes of psychosocial stress within firefighters: A systematic review of the research landscape.Journal of occupational health · 2021Pooled it
- Occupational Risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma-Related Depression: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Peer Support and Crisis-Focused Psychological Interventions Designed to Mitigate Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries among Public Safety and Frontline Healthcare Personnel: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- The usefulness of pre-employment and pre-deployment psychological screening for disaster relief workers: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Social Embeddedness of Firefighters, Paramedics, Specialized Nurses, Police Officers, and Military Personnel: Systematic Review in Relation to the Risk of Traumatization.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Multiple session early psychological interventions for the prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- The Road to Mental Readiness for First Responders: A Meta-Analysis of Program Outcomes.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2019Pooled it
- 3MDR Therapy Reduces Symptoms of PTSD and Related Conditions in Canadian Military Members and Veterans, Public Safety Personnel, and Clinical Personnel.Brain and behavior · 2026Trial
- Investigating the safety and tolerability of single-dose psilocybin for post-traumatic stress disorder: A nonrandomized open-label clinical trial.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- Suicidal Ideation, Planning, and Attempts Changes Among Diverse Canadian Public Safety Personnel After the Emotional Resilience Skills Training.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2025Trial
- Exploring healthcare workers' experiences of a simple intervention to reduce their intrusive memories of psychological trauma: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Trial
- Increased top-down control of emotions during symptom provocation working memory tasks following a RCT of alpha-down neurofeedback in PTSD.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2023Trial
184 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeWe sought to estimate the pooled current prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among rescue workers and to determine the variables implicated in the heterogeneity observed among the prevalences of individual studies.
methodsA systematic review covering studies reporting on the PTSD prevalence in rescue teams was conducted following four sequential steps: (1) research in specialized online databases, (2) review of abstracts and selection of studies, (3) review of reference list, and (4) contact with authors and experts. Prevalence data from all studies were pooled using random effects model. Multivariate meta-regression models were fitted to identify variables related to the prevalences heterogeneity.
resultsA total of 28 studies, reporting on 40 samples with 20,424 rescuers, were selected. The worldwide pooled current prevalence was 10%. Meta-regression modeling in studies carried out in the Asian continent had, on average, higher estimated prevalences than those from Europe, but not higher than the North American estimates. Studies of ambulance personnel also showed higher estimated PTSD prevalence than studies with firefighters and police officers.
conclusionsRescue workers in general have a pooled current prevalence of PTSD that is much higher than that of the general population. Ambulance personnel and rescuers from Asia may be more susceptible to PTSD. These results indicate the need for improving pre-employment strategies to select the most resilient individuals for rescue work, to implement continuous preventive measures for personnel, and to promote educational campaigns about PTSD and its therapeutic possibilities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.