PTSD-positive screening and factors influencing the mental state in victims evacuated/ not evacuated from Wenchuan earthquake area within 1 month.
- Author:
Xueping GAO
1
;
Xingwei LUO
Author Information
1. Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, China. xuepinggao@hotmail.com
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Adult;
Anxiety;
epidemiology;
China;
epidemiology;
Depression;
epidemiology;
Disasters;
Earthquakes;
Female;
Humans;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Sex Factors;
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic;
epidemiology;
prevention & control;
psychology
- From:
Journal of Central South University(Medical Sciences)
2009;34(6):504-509
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE:To explore posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) positive screening and factors influencing the mental state in victims who were evacuated/were not evacuated from Wenchuan earthquake area within 1 month.
METHODS:The 3 groups included 235 victims who were not evacuated from Shifang territory (the incident scene, Group A), 44 victims who were evacuated to Second Xiangya Hospital (the wounded, Group B) and 36 relatives (the relatives, Group C). The mental state of all subjects was evaluated by Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and other tools.
RESULTS:(1) One month after the disaster, and the positive rate of PTSD screening in these survivors was 35.56%, the positive rate in women was significantly higher than that in men (chi(2)=16.27,P<0.001). The positive rate of PTSD screening in Group A, Group B and Group C was 39.15%, 31.82%, and 16.67%, respectively, with significant difference (chi(2)(mh)=5.243,P<0.05). Among the three groups which met the diagnosis criterion of PTSD symptoms, the scores for "numbness/avoidance symptom"and "excessive arousing symptom"in Group A were significantly higher than those in Group B and C (P<0.01). (2) The scores for "anxiety"and "depression"and "psychosomatic"symptoms in Group A and Group B were significantly higher than those in Group C (P<0.05). (3) Gender, place of residence and evacuating from the earthquake area or not were factors of PTSD symptoms.
CONCLUSION:One month after the earthquake, the victims suffered psychologically. PTSD symptoms, anxiety and depression symptoms were their major mental problems, more attention to especially women victims. The protection factors include dispersing victims to the secure place as soon as possible, expanding and strengthening society support. Early psychological interventions will help victims to raise their psychological endurance and prevent PTSD effectively.
