{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T12:53:03Z","timestamp":1792414383740,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,11]],"date-time":"2022-02-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644537600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>We investigated factors associated with increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in ambulance personnel and the barriers faced in accessing support for work-related stress (WRS). A cross-sectional study of 388 ambulance personnel used self-administered questionnaires to assess for PTSD and level of occupational stressors: Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Critical Incident Inventory, EMS Chronic Stress Questionnaire, SF-36 Quality of Life and the Connor\u2013Davidson Resilience Scale. The prevalence of PTSD in the study population was 30%. The participants were predominantly female (55%), with a median age of 38 (IQR; 31\u201344) years. PTSD was associated with smoking (OR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.05\u20132.95), illicit drug use (OR = 16.4, 95% CI: 1.87\u2013143.86) and problem drinking (OR = 3.86, 95% CI: 1.80\u20138.23). A self-reported mental health condition (OR = 3.76, 95% CI: 1.96\u20137.21), being treated for a medical condition (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.22\u20133.11), exposure to critical incident stress (OR = 4.27, 95% CI: 2.24\u20138.15) and chronic WRS (OR = 4.46, 95% CI: 1.93\u201310.31) were associated with PTSD risk. Barriers to seeking help included concerns that services were not confidential and the negative impact on the participant\u2019s career. The increased levels of WRS, strong associations with substance use and barriers to accessing care offer starting points for workplace interventions to reduce the impact of PTSD in ambulance personnel.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19042046","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,13]],"date-time":"2022-02-13T21:08:43Z","timestamp":1644786523000},"page":"2046","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":32,"title":["The Correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Ambulance Personnel and Barriers Faced in Accessing Care for Work-Related Stress"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9799-0132","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Itumeleng","family":"Ntatamala","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Occupational Medicine and Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3630-1855","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shahieda","family":"Adams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Occupational Medicine and Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"489","DOI":"10.1136\/oemed-2014-102574","article-title":"Occupational injury risk among ambulance officers and paramedics compared with other healthcare workers in Victoria, Australia: Analysis of workers\u2019 compensation claims from 2003 to 2012","volume":"72","author":"Roberts","year":"2015","journal-title":"Occup. 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