Table 2 Summary of published studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria for risk factors of post-traumatic stress disorder among workers

Fitch, T

Bangladesh

Cross-sectional

Factory building collapse

181 survivors at 1 year post factory collapse

PCL-S ≥ 50

(OR, 95% CI)

Married (3.2, 1.3–8.0),

More than 70 working hours/week (2.4, 1.1–5.3),

Higher job positions (2.6, 1.2–5.6),

Concussion injury (3.7, 1.4–9.8)

James, L

USA

Cross-sectional

Chronic exposure to critical incidents in workplace

355 prison workers

PCL for DSM-5

(Regression coefficients β, p-value)

1) Risk factor

Being seriously injured (3.13, < 0.01),

Encountering an inmate recently sexually assaulted (1.29, < 0.01),

Being often placed in unnecessary danger (1.79, < 0.01),

Being often unclear about what is expected of them (1.05, < 0.01).

2) Protective factor

Being happy with job assignments (−1.49, < 0.01),

Having positive relationships with supervisors (− 1.39, < 0.01),

Having positive relationships with co-workers (− 1.46, < 0.01).

Shah, R

Canada

Longitudinal

Workplace traumatic event

141 urban public transit employees

SCID-I

Factors which were significantly associated with PTSD severity (Regression coefficients β, p-value) Severity of depression (0.66, 0.01),

Female (3.31, 0.02),

Ethnicity (13.33, 0.01),

Workplace related stress (− 0.30, 0.02).

Geronazzo-Alman, L

USA

Cross-sectional

Cumulative exposure to work-related traumatic events

209 first responders

PCL-C

(Adjusted OR, 95% CI)

Frequency of exposure (2.0, 1.2–3.3),

Variety of exposure (2.8, 1.5–5.5),

Nomothetic severity of exposure (2.9, 1.5–5.7),

Idiographic severity of exposure (5.2, 2.4–11.3).

Schenk, EJ

China

Cross-sectional

Working after earthquake

337 medical rescue workers who performed within the first 3 months of the event

IES-R ≥ 33

(Adjusted OR, 95% CI)

Injured during rescue work (2.7, 1.4–5.1),

Experienced a water shortage (3.0, 1.4–6.6),

Disconnected from family or friends during rescue work (1.7, 0.8–3.7).

Bogaerts, S

Netherlands

Cross-sectional

Intracolleague aggression

174 prison workers

The Self-Rating Inventory for PTSD

Degree of type D personality (F = 21.9, p < 0.01)

Spence Laschinger, HK

Canada

Cross-sectional

Workplace bullying

874 nurses (244 new graduate nurses and 630 experienced nurses)

Primary care PTSD screen

(Regression coefficients β, p-value)

1) Risk factor: workplace bullying

among new graduate nurses (0.51, < 0.01),

among experienced nurses (0.52, < 0.01)

2) Protective factor: psychological capital

among new graduate nurses (−0.25, < 0.01)

among experienced nurses (− 0.20, < 0.01)

Taymur, I

Turkey

Longitudinal

Industrial Explosion

157 workers nearby the explosion building

CAPS

Factors showing significant differences using Pearson’ chi-squared test

1) After 1 month

History of psychiatric disorder, physical injury, acquaintances among the dead/injured, being involved in the incident, and having seen dead people

2) After 6 months: physical injury,

acquaintances among the dead/ injured, being involved in the incident

Chatzea, VE

Greece

Cross-sectional

Working during the European refugee crisis

217 rescue workers

PCL-C ≥ 50

(Adjusted OR, 95% CI)

Female (2.1, 1.0–3.3),

Single/divorced/widower (3.4, 2.2–4.6),

Age (1.9, 1.8–2.1),

Operation periods (2.1, 1.9–2.3),

Duration of shifts (3.1, 2.5–3.7),

Handling dead adults (2.8, 2.6–3.0),

Handing dead children (2.9, 2.8–3.0).

Diene, E

France

Cross-sectional

Industrial factory explosion

13,129 economically

active persons in the immediate and peripheral area of industrial disaster

IES-R ≥ 33

(Adjusted OR, 95% CI)

1) Men

Employees (4.3, 2.3–7.8),

Factory workers/laborers (3.7, 1.8–7.6),

Temporary layoff (2.6, 1.5–4.5),

Unusable workplace (1.8, 1.1–2.8),

Attendance at emergency department (4.1; 2.8–6.1),

< 1.7 km to explosion site (3.6, 1.6–8.1),

≥50 years old (2.8, 1.3–5.9)

2) Women

Artisan (2.7, 1.3–5.7),

Employees/factory workers/laborers (2.2, 1.4–3.5),

Attendance at emergency department (3.0, 2.2–4.4),

Reporting of an occupational accident (1.5, 1.1–2.2),

< 1.7 km to explosion site (3.0, 1.2–7.3), ≥50 years old (1.9, 1.1–3.1)

Sifaki-Pistolla, D.

Greece

Cross-sectional

Working during the European refugee crisis

217 rescue workers

PCL-C ≥ 50

(Adjusted OR, 95% CI)

Female (2.2, 1.1–3.4),

Single/divorced/widower (3.5, 2.3–4.7),

> 40 years old (3.8, 2.5–5.1),

> 14 operation days (2.3, 1.4–3.2),

> 4 shift hours/day (3.9, 3.1–4.7),

Handling over 6 dead refugees (3.4, 2.3–4.5),

Handling dead children (3.2, 1.9–4.4).

Song, J. Y.

Korea

Cross-sectional

Chemical release disasters

237 workers in industrial complex

IES-R ≥ 24

(Adjusted OR, 95% CI)

Alcohol dependence (3.1, 1.3–7.6),

Psychiatric symptom at the time of the accident (5.3, 1.8–15.6)

Workers with high perceived stress scale scores (8.7, 2.3–33.2)

Noda, Y.

Japan

Cross-sectional

Working after earthquake

220 rescue workers

IES-R ≥ 24

(Coefficients β, p-value)

1) Higher level of education

Intrusion (−0.17, 0.02)

Avoidance (− 0.18, 0.03)

Hyperarousal (− 0.18, 0.02)

2) Resilience

Intrusion (− 0.18, 0.02)

Avoidance (− 0.16, 0.02)

Hyperarousal (− 0.26, < 0.01)

McCanlies, EC.

USA

Cross-sectional

Working after hurricane

114 police officers

PCL-C

(Coefficients β, p-value)

1) Resilience (− 0.65, < 0.01)

2) Satisfaction with life (− 0.55, < 0.01)

3) Gratitude (− 0.67, < 0.01)

4) Post-traumatic growth (0.09, 0.55)