The mental health impact of the 2023 earthquakes on the Syrian population: cross-sectional study.
BJPsych Open
; 10(1): e1, 2023 Dec 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38037419
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Natural disasters have a significant impact on the mental health of affected populations. The February 2023 earthquakes in Syria and Turkey caused widespread devastation.AIMS:
To explore the mental health impact of the earthquakes in Syria on the population across areas differentially damaged by the disaster.METHOD:
This cross-sectional study conducted in Syria included 1406 adults recruited via social media platforms 1 month after the February 2023 earthquakes. Demographic information, earthquake exposure questions, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5 for probable post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9 for probable depression) and the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7 for probable anxiety) were included to compare outcomes across areas severely, moderately and slightly damaged by the earthquakes.RESULTS:
Probable PTSD and GAD rates were higher in the severely (57.9 and 57.3% respectively) and moderately damaged regions (55.4 and 56.3% respectively) than in the slightly damaged regions (44.6 and 48.3% respectively) (PTSD P < 0.001, GAD P = 0.005). More participants in severely damaged regions (60.6%) reported symptoms of depression compared with moderately (53.1%) and slightly damaged (50.8%) regions (P = 0.003). Poorer mental health outcomes were associated with being female, single, younger, having a damaged or destroyed house, seeing something tragic in person and hearing tragic stories. Seeing something tragic on social media was not statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS:
This study highlights the higher prevalence of probable mental disorders in areas with more severe earthquake damage, with over 50% of the population reporting probable PTSD, depression or anxiety. The study also suggests a significant cumulative effect of these earthquakes on an already trauma- and disaster-affected population.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BJPsych Open
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Siria