OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to describe the psychiatric symptoms in the teachers from Danwon High School who were exposed to the sinking of the Motor Vessel Sewol. METHODS: Data were collected from 32 teachers who underwent psychiatric interventions by 16 volunteer psychiatrists for 3 months after the sinking of the Motor Vessel Sewol. RESULTS: The most commonly diagnosed clinical diagnosis in the teachers were normal reaction, acute stress disorder and adjustment disorder. Psychiatric symptoms including anxiety, depressed mood and sleep disturbances were also observed. CONCLUSION: In the acute aftermath of the Sewol Ferry sinking on April 16, 2014, psychiatrists volunteered to provide professional psychiatric interventions to Danwon High School teachers. These results suggest the importance of crisis intervention focused on the teachers who are exposed to disasters. The implications for future research and interventions are discussed.
Adjustment Disorders ; Anxiety ; Crisis Intervention ; Diagnosis ; Disasters ; Humans ; Psychiatry ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute ; Volunteers

The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (SASRQ). A Korean version of the SASRQ was produced through forward translation, reconciliation, and back translation. A total of 100 healthy, non-clinical participants were selected through screening and clinical interview, and they each were given a set of questionnaires including SASRQ. Psychometric properties of SASRQ were then examined through statistical analyses. Full-scale and subscales of SASRQ yielded excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.98 and 0.78-0.95, respectively). Test-retest reliability at 2-week intervals was satisfactory, with coefficient r ranging between 0.47 and 0.71. Convergent validity was also demonstrated by strong correlations between SASRQ and other trauma-related questionnaires. Correlation with Social Desirability Scale, however, was not found to be significant; thus evidenced divergent validity. The Korean version of SASRQ appears to be a reliable and valid measurement tool for assessing symptoms of acute stress disorder. Including clinical samples for comparison with controls would be necessary in future studies.
Adult ; Disability Evaluation ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Psychometrics/*statistics & numerical data ; Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results ; Republic of Korea ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/*diagnosis ; Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute/*diagnosis

BACKGROUND: Two hundred and fifty 11th grade students and teachers from Danwon High School drowned, during a school trip, in the Sewol Ferry Disaster. The goal of this study was to investigate the experiences of the psychiatrists who volunteered and provided psychiatric services to the students at Danwon High School. METHODS: From the second day to the 138th day after the disaster, pro bono psychiatrists provided post-disaster interventions to the 10th and 12th-grade Danwon High School students who did not attend the trip. Officially, 167 psychiatrists conducted outreach in approximately 550 encounters. The study questionnaires were distributed retrospectively to psychiatric volunteers who conducted outreach at Danwon High School. We surveyed the pro bono psychiatrists about their experiences, including the students' chief complaints, psychiatric problems, clinical diagnoses, and psychiatrists' treatment recommendations. RESULTS: We reached 72 (43.1%) of the 167 volunteers, and they reported on 212 (38.6%) of the 550 encounters. The common chief complaints were mental health problems, companion problems, and family problems. The most frequent psychiatric symptoms were anxiety (76.89%), depressive mood (51.42%), and concentration difficulty (50.94%). The most frequent clinical diagnoses of the students were normal reaction (41.04%), acute stress disorder (24.53%), adjustment disorder (17.92%), anxiety disorders (9.43%), and posttraumatic stress disorder (6.60%). More than half of the students needed “additional counseling/therapy” (41.04%) or “referral to psychiatric treatment” (14.15%). CONCLUSION: During the acute aftermath of the Sewol Ferry Disaster, volunteer psychiatrists were able to provide services. These services included psychiatric assessments, crisis counseling, psychological first aid, and referrals for ongoing care. More than half of the students were perceived to have a psychiatric diagnosis, and a substantial proportion of students needed further treatment. Future research should focus on the short- and long-term effects of psychiatric interventions and the characterization of post-disaster mental health needs and service provision patterns.
Adjustment Disorders ; Adolescent ; Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders ; Counseling ; Diagnosis ; Disasters ; First Aid ; Friends ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; Mental Health ; Psychiatry ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute ; Volunteers

OBJECTIVETo investigate stress gastrointestinal bleeding in critically ill patients and its effect on the prognosis.

METHODSClinical data of 1148 critically ill patients consecutively admitted to Intensive Care Unit of East Campuses of Peking Union Medical College Hospital during 2008 were analyzed retrospectively. The main contents of investigation included morbility and mortality of stress gastrointestinal bleeding in critically ill patients and its relationship with multiple organ dysfunction.

RESULTSAmong the 1148 critically ill patients, organ dysfunction occurred in 254 cases, including 57 cases with shock, 124 with respiratory dysfunction, 46 with acute renal dysfunction, 192 with coagulation dysfunction and 40 with stress gastrointestinal bleeding. The patients with stress gastrointestinal bleeding took up 15.7% among organ dysfunction patients and 3.5% among critically ill patients. 97.5% stress gastrointestinal bleeding accompanied with other organ dysfunction. The mortality of stress gastrointestinal bleeding was 40.0%, which was higher than that of shock (28.1%), respiratory dysfunction (22.6%), renal dysfunction (30.4%) and coagulation dysfunction (13.5%) (all P<0.05). Binary Logistic regression analysis found that stress gastrointestinal bleeding was an independent risk factor associated with mortality (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe patients with stress gastrointestinal bleeding usually have a poor prognosis.

Critical Illness ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute ; complications

The Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) maintains some large automated databases that provide the opportunity for studying long-term health effects of military service. The Beneficiary Identification and Record Locator Subsystem(BIRLS) is an excellent source of vital status information on veterans. The VA Patient Treatment File(PTF) is a computerized hospital discharge abstract system of inpatient records, including patients' demographic data, surgical and procedural transactions, and patient movements and diagnosis. The computerized Agent Orange Registry data include veteran's name, address, some information on military service, and findings at the time of his physical examination. The US conducted 235 atmospheric nuclear tests from 1945 through 1962. Many of the 250,000 test participants were exposed to low levels of radiation. The overall average radiation dose was estimated as 0.6 rem per year. In 1976, a claim relating acute myelocytic leukemia to radiation exposure from nuclear weapon testing received extensive publicity. Several thousand "atomic veterans" have sought medical care and compensation from VA for medical conditions that they believe are related to the nuclear weapon testing. Many WWII veterans have contracted the US VA about health problems that they attribute to their exposure to mustard gas. From 1962 to 1971, 75 million liters of herbicides, including over 41 million liters of the phenoxy herbicide Agent Orange, were sprayed on almost 9% of Vietnam. Many studies have been conducted to determine the association of various cancers with military service in Vietnam. Some diseases have been compensated for Vietnam veterans. Health problems reported following the Gulf War include a wide variety of symptoms similar to those found in acute combat reaction, posttraumatic stress disorder, and chronic fatigue. Health problems associated with war have continued and in some ways intensified. Therefore, The United States developed a plan for establishing a national center for the study of war-related illnesses and post-deployment health issues.
Americas* ; Citrus sinensis ; Compensation and Redress ; Diagnosis ; Fatigue ; Gulf War ; Herbicides ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Military Personnel ; Mustard Gas ; Nuclear Weapons ; Persian Gulf Syndrome ; Physical Examination ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; United States* ; Veterans* ; Vietnam