OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the physical and mental health status of disaster victims according to disaster types, such as a typhoon disaster and an oil spill disaster, and to suggest adequate health care services for them. METHODS: A total of 484 people who suffered disasters were selected for this study, and data were collected from July to August, 2008. The data-set for this study included 286 victims of typhoon disasters in Jeju and Jeollanamdo district in South Korea, and 198 victims of the oil spill disaster in Taean. Physical health status was measured using revised Patient Health Questionnaire and mental health status was measured using the Korean version of 'Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale'. RESULTS: According to the comparative analyses of typhoon disaster victims and oil spill disaster victims, poorer physical health outcomes were shown among the oil spill disaster victims when compared to the typhoon disaster victims. Also, the oil spill disaster victims showed symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, at rates higher than those found among the typhoon disaster victims. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that there is a need to provide adequate physical and mental health-related care services for oil spill disaster victims. The seriousness of oil spill disaster should be realized and reconsidered in developing recovery strategies and disaster preparedness for physical and mental health services.
Adult ; Anxiety/etiology ; *Cyclonic Storms ; Data Collection ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Depression/etiology ; *Disasters ; Education ; Female ; *Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; *Mental Health ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea ; Research ; Sampling Studies ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/etiology

Purpose: This study explored the effects of the elderly group's digital literacy and health empowerment on communication with doctors, considering moderating effect of health beliefs about chronic diseases. Methods: A one-on-one interview survey was conducted with 500 older adults in South Korea. The main variables were digital literacy, health empowerment, communication with doctors, and health belief of chronic diseases. Results: The interaction effect between health empowerment and susceptibility, and health empowerment and perceived barrier were significant. Conclusion Communication with doctors greatly increased when the elders had high levels of health empowerment and low levels of susceptibility. Also, communication with doctors greatly increased when the elders had high levels of health empowerment and low levels of perceived barriers.