BACKGROUND: Following a natural disaster, survivors are vulnerable to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/ or depression. OBJECTIVES: (i) To screen survivors of the Bihar floods a month after the event to determine their scores in a screening questionnaire for PTSD and/ or depression and (ii) to correlate these scores with age and gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One thousand two hundred eighty-nine persons (645 females) who had been directly exposed to the floods in Bihar, India, in August 2008 were assessed. The Screening Questionnaire for Disaster Mental Health (SQD) was used to screen for PTSD and depression. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Separate two-factor ANOVAs were used to compare persons of both sexes and 5 different age groups for PTSD and depression scores. This was followed by post-hoc analysis for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: People over the age of 60 years had significantly higher scores for PTSD and depression compared to all groups (P< 0.05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION: Following a natural disaster, older people appear more vulnerable to develop PTSD and depression. This should be taken into account in devising strategies for disaster relief.
BACKGROUND: Following a natural disaster, survivors are vulnerable to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/ or depression. OBJECTIVES: (i) To screen survivors of the Bihar floods a month after the event to determine their scores in a screening questionnaire for PTSD and/ or depression and (ii) to correlate these scores with age and gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One thousand two hundred eighty-nine persons (645 females) who had been directly exposed to the floods in Bihar, India, in August 2008 were assessed. The Screening Questionnaire for Disaster Mental Health (SQD) was used to screen for PTSD and depression. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Separate two-factor ANOVAs were used to compare persons of both sexes and 5 different age groups for PTSD and depression scores. This was followed by post-hoc analysis for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: People over the age of 60 years had significantly higher scores for PTSD and depression compared to all groups (P< 0.05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION: Following a natural disaster, older people appear more vulnerable to develop PTSD and depression. This should be taken into account in devising strategies for disaster relief.
Authors: Amy Berninger; Mayris P Webber; Hillel W Cohen; Jackson Gustave; Roy Lee; Justin K Niles; Sydney Chiu; Rachel Zeig-Owens; Jackie Soo; Kerry Kelly; David J Prezant Journal: Public Health Rep Date: 2010 Jul-Aug Impact factor: 2.792
Authors: Ana Fernandez; John Black; Mairwen Jones; Leigh Wilson; Luis Salvador-Carulla; Thomas Astell-Burt; Deborah Black Journal: PLoS One Date: 2015-04-10 Impact factor: 3.240
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