Citation

Onder E, Tural U, Aker AT, Kılıç C, Erdoğan S. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2006; 41(11): 868-874.

Affiliation

Dept. of Psychiatry, Medical Faculty of Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00127-006-0107-6

PMID

16906439

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The objective of the study is to describe the community prevalence of psychiatric disorder, mainly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) 3 years after a devastating earthquake. METHODS: Three years after the Marmara Earthquake, 683 individuals from the epicentre were randomly selected to form a representative sample and were assessed with Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Traumatic Stress Symptom Checklist (TSSC) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: The 36 months prevalence of PTSD and MDD after the Marmara Earthquake were 19.2% and 18.7% respectively. The current prevalence of PTSD and MDD in the affected community was found to be 11.7% and 10.5%, respectively. PTSD and MDD were the most prevalent disorders after the disaster and showed a decrease over time. However, only 38.9% of the PTSD cases identified at any time over the 3 years were in remission at the 3rd-year. The co-occurrence of MDD with PTSD resulted in a decrease in the rate of recovery from PTSD. MDD was also the most prevalent disorder accompanying PTSD. Of all the subjects 37.5% with PTSD still met the MDD criteria at the 3rd year postearthquake. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with the data from pre-earthquake national mental health profile, the present study showed that the prevalence of MDD, panic disorder, OCD, GAD, social phobia and special phobias were still higher in the affected region 3 years after the earthquake.

Language: en