A Systematic Review of Health Outcomes Among Disaster and Humanitarian Responders

Introduction Disaster and humanitarian responders are at-risk of experiencing a wide range of physical and psychological health conditions, from minor injuries to chronic mental health problems and fatalities. This article reviews the current literature on the major health outcomes of responders to various disasters and conflicts in order to better inform individuals of the risks and to inform deploying agencies of the health care needs of responders.

In March 2014, an EMBASE search was conducted using pre-defined search criteria. Two reviewers screened the resultant 2,849 abstracts and the 66 full-length manuscripts which are included in the review.

The majority of research on health outcomes of responders focused on mental health (57 of 66 articles). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression were the most studied diagnoses with prevalence of PTSD ranging from 0%-34% and depression from 21%-53%. Physical health outcomes were much less well-studied and included a wide range of environmental, infectious, and traumatic conditions such as heat stroke, insect bites, dermatologic, gastrointestinal, and respiratory diseases, as well as burns, fractures, falls, and other traumatic injuries.

The prevalence of mental health disorders in responders may vary more and be higher than previously suggested. Overall health outcomes of responders are likely poorly monitored and under-reported. Improved surveillance systems and risk mitigation strategies should be employed in all disaster and conflict responses to better protect individual responders. Garbern SC , Ebbeling LG , Bartels SA . A systematic review of health outcomes among disaster and humanitarian responders. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):635-642.