Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among subjects exposed to a natural disaster

Maj, Mario; Starace, Fabrizio; Crepet, P.; Lobrace, S.; Veltro, Franco; Marco, Federico De; Kemali, D.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1989.tb10301.x

Cited by 80 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Until now, however, in Japan there has been no analysis relating mental effects to seismic intensity and this valuable data has been used to guide preventive. Elsewhere, researchers have compared the incidence of mental disorder depending on the degree of stress suffered [4][5][6] , but no study has presented quantitative findings on the relationship between the seismic intensity and life events and earthquake stress. To evaluate the usefulness of immediately available seismic intensity information for guiding initial postdisaster mental health activities, we carried out a survey one year after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A gradient in the incidence of mental disorders corresponding to quantitative differences in earthquake damage, with the incidence rising towards the epicenter, has been reported [4][5][6] . Previous studies have shown that people who have a higher number of earthquakerelated life events and greater degree of loss experience more frequently develop mental disorders and show severer symptoms [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seismic Intensity and Mental Stress after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

Maruyama

KWON

Morimoto

2001

Environ. Health Prev. Med.

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Objective: For 1,361 victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, to evaluate the usefulness of seismic intensity information for mental health activities, we examined the quantitative relationship between experienced seismic intensity and earthquake-related life events or mental health.Methods: Questionnaires were administered concerning seismic intensity, life events and mental health to the victims.Results: The incidence of serious life events, such as death of a close family member and mental disorders were higher in areas of high seismic intensity than in low-intensity areas. Victims who experienced intensity 7 (Japan Meteorological Agency) scored 11 or more on the Modified Mercalli (MM) scale, perceived more depressive symptoms [odds ratio (OR) 2.11, 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.49-2.98)] and lower mental health status (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.34-2.61) than those who suffered intensity 4 or less, who scored 7 or less on MM scale after controlling for various sociodemographic factors.Conclusions: Higher seismic intensity was associated with each severe life event and ill mental health among earthquake victims.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismic Intensity and Mental Stress after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

Maruyama

KWON

Morimoto

2001

Environ. Health Prev. Med.

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“…Joseph, Andrews, Williams & Yule, 1992;Maj et al, 1989), in 'peripheral victims' of such disasters (Dixon, Rehling & Shiwach, 1993), in helpers in disaster situations (e.g. Duckworth, 1986), in war veterans (e.g.…”

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confidence: 98%

Post‐traumatic stress disorder ‘once removed’: A case report

Bledin

1994

British Journal of Medical Psychology

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This paper describes the successful treatment of an unusual case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The case was unusual in that the patient, a 38-year-old woman, had neither experienced nor witnessed the traumatic event, but seemed to have experienced PTSD 'once removed' from the incident (the murder of her colleague). The four treatment sessions focused on traumatic events in the patient's childhood which had produced no identified symptoms, but which had become intertwined with the adult trauma to provoke the PTSD syndrome.

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“…Common survivor problems include sleep disorders, increases in negative health behaviours (e.g. alcohol use and smoking), increased prevalence of subclinical mental health symptoms, and psychiatric disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and substance abuse [12,14,15,16,17,18,19]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute Stress Reactions and Associated Factors in the Help-Seekers after the L’Aquila Earthquake

et al. 2012

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Background: The assessment of acute stress reactions and psychiatric symptomatology shortly after the occurrence of a traumatic catastrophic event, like an earthquake, is essential for implementing relief activities and for the identification of the long-term aftermath. The aim of our study was to assess the psychological distress and the occurrence of acute stress disorder (ASD) among individuals seeking help at the General Hospital Psychiatric Unit at San Salvatore Hospital following the earthquake at L’Aquila. Factors (sociodemographic, coping strategies, event-related and postevent variables) associated with the acute stress reactions were also assessed. Methods: For the first 4 weeks following the earthquake, 122 help-seekers were assessed with a checklist of traumatic-event-related variables. Measurement instruments included the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (SASRQ) for the detection of ASD according to DSM-IV criteria, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) for assessing psychological distress, and the Brief Cope questionnaire for assessing coping strategies. Results: Despite the high level of psychological distress (GHQ-12 ≥20, cut-off value) found in 65.6% of the subjects, only 6 subjects (4.9%) could be considered affected by ‘full’ ASD, whereas 48 subjects (39.3%) could be considered affected by ‘partial’ ASD, which is defined as showing at least one symptom on each DSM-IV criterion as evidenced by scoring higher than 3 on each SASRQ scale. The strongest predictor of traumatic stress reactions among all the predictor variables included in our study was having been trapped/injured under rubble during the earthquake, and among earthquake stressors (explaining 20% of variance in our model), a weaker predictor was the loss of personal privacy because of home displacement. In our model, more variance (39%) was explained when individual psychopathological variables and coping styles were also included as predictors. Showing coping strategies as exhibiting ‘behavioural disengagement’ or ‘requesting emotional support from others’ were found to increase the likelihood of a positive estimate of being an ‘ASD case’, while the adoption of an ‘acceptance’ coping style seemed to reduce the likelihood of the positive estimate of being an ‘ASD case’. Conclusions: This study underlines the importance of identifying ASD subsyndromal cases and taking appropriate intervention/prevention measures that focus on giving psychological support to individuals trapped/injured under rubble, showing a low acceptance of reality. A relevant underestimated source of distress was the dislocation in large accommodation settings (such as large tent camps) in which individuals lack privacy.

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Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among subjects exposed to a natural disaster

Cited by 80 publications

References 21 publications

Seismic Intensity and Mental Stress after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

Seismic Intensity and Mental Stress after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

Post‐traumatic stress disorder ‘once removed’: A case report

Acute Stress Reactions and Associated Factors in the Help-Seekers after the L’Aquila Earthquake

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