Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following the Earthquake in Iran and Pakistan: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental disorder following traumatic events. The present study was conducted to understand the prevalence of PTSD after the earthquake in Iran and Pakistan. The review includes all articles published from inception to March 2019. The pooled prevalence for overall PTSD was 55.6% (95% CI: 49.9–61.3). It was 60.2% (95% CI: 54.1–66.3) and 49.2% (95% CI: 39.4–59) for Iranian and Pakistani survivors, respectively. Women experienced higher incidence of PTSD than men. The variation of PTSD based on the clinical interview was lower than the self-report approach. The interval time between the earthquakes and the assessment showed that the prevalence of PTSD decreased over time. The prevalence of PTSD in Iran and Pakistan was higher than the global average, and the rate of the disorder in Iran was higher than in Pakistan. Sex, method of assessment, and time lag between the occurrence of disaster and assessment of PTSD affect the prevalence.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in medical workers involved in earthquake response: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The results of the present study indicates that the PTSD prevalence declines with the time elapsing from earthquake occurrence. The findings of two meta-analysis studies showed a declining trend in the prevalence of PTSD over time among the survivors of earthquakes [ 41 ] and floods [ 42 ]. The findings of these studies are in good agreement with the results of the present review, reflecting a declining trend in the PTSD prevalence in survivors and medical workers after natural disasters over time.…”

Impact of climate events, pollution, and green spaces on mental health: an umbrella review of meta-analyses

“…Eight meta-analyses aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of mental disorders after a climate event (Cénat et al, 2020 ; Chen & Liu, 2015 ; Dai et al, 2016 ; Hosseinnejad et al, 2022 ; Jahangiri et al, 2020 ; Liang, Zeng, Liu, Xu, & Liu, 2021 ; Rezayat et al, 2020 ; Sepahvand et al, 2019 ). However, they pooled prevalence rates based on different cut-off values from different self-report measures, which is a crucial methodological error, because these estimates indicate different variables and should not be combined in a meta-analysis (Levis et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Chen & Liu, 2015 ; Dai et al, 2016 ), on one specific country (e.g. Hosseinnejad et al, 2022 ; Sepahvand, Hashtjini, Salesi, Sahraei, & Jahromi, 2019 ), or one polluting substance (Forns et al, 2020 ). Because of the focus on specific subjects, an overview of the whole field is lacking.…”

Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder After Flood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The results of the present study showed that the prevalence of PTSD has a relatively decreasing trend in the flood survivors over time. The results of another review study that looked at the prevalence of PTSD in earthquake survivors showed that the prevalence of PTSD decreased over time ( 53 , 54 ). Therefore, it can be concluded that the prevalence of PTSD following natural disasters has been declining.…”