@article{ref1,
title="Disaster severity and emotional disturbance: implications for primary mental health care in developing countries",
journal="Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica",
year="1989",
author="Lima, B. R. and Chavez, H. and Samaniego, N. and Pompei, M. S. and Pai, S. and Santacruz, H. and Lozano, J.",
volume="79",
number="1",
pages="74-82",
abstract="Two months following the 1987 earthquakes in Ecuador, 150 patients in the primary health care clinics of the area were screened for emotional problems; 40% of them were emotionally distressed. Risk factors included not being married, reporting poor physical or emotional health, and having ill-defined physical complaints. The findings from this research are discussed in relation to a disaster of much greater intensity, whose victims were studied by the authors, utilizing the same instrument and research design. The comparison between these 2 groups of disaster victims revealed that: 1) the prevalence of emotional distress was smaller among the Ecuador victims, but the frequency of symptoms among the distressed was similar for both groups; 2) the symptom profiles were remarkably similar; and 3) the most frequent symptoms and the strongest predictors of emotional distress were very similar. These findings support a focused training of health care workers on selected emotional problems that are regularly present among victims of different disasters.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0001-690X",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}