NEW YORK, May 12, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A U.S. review of studies found that
nearly 1 in 12 people exposed to terrorism report increased use and misuse of
alcohol, researchers said.
Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York
and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor combined data from 31 studies
conducted in the aftermath of such incidents as the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 and the Intifada uprisings in
Israel.
Preliminary findings, scheduled to be published in the June issue of the journal
Addiction, indicated that nearly 10 percent of the general population surveyed
in those settings reported more or problematic alcohol consumption.
After adjusting for the type of terrorist attack, the type of population
surveyed -- survivors, responders or the general population -- the estimate of
the isolated effect of terrorism dropped to 7.3 percent.
Most of the studies the authors analyzed were conducted in the aftermath of the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, looked at alcohol use and were based on
general population estimates, the researchers said.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International