Citation

Inoue K, Inoue K, Suda S, Shioda K, Kobayashi T, Kishi K, Kato S. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2015; 69(9): 587-595.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/pcn.12282

PMID

25708877

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate differences in vulnerability to traumatic stress and the one-year course of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

METHODS: The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to assess PTSS in 612 patients with schizophrenic (ICD-10 F2; n = 163), mood (F3; n = 299), or neurotic disorders (F4; n = 150) at 1-4 months and again at 13-16 months after the disaster (retention rate: 68%).

RESULTS: The mean IES-R total score for all diagnostic groups was 18.6 at index and 13.4 at follow-up. The mean IES-R total score for patients with neurotic disorders (22.5) was significantly higher than that of patients with mood disorders (18.1) and schizophrenic disorders (15.9). At follow-up, these scores decreased for all groups and inter-group differences were not observed.

CONCLUSION: Vulnerability to traumatic stress after a disaster was most severe in patients with neurotic disorders, followed by mood disorders, and, lastly, schizophrenic disorders. This difference among the three diagnostic groups was not found one year after the disaster.

Language: en