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Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Posttraumatic Stress Among Survivors of the 2005 Pakistani Earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2013

Shahrukh Hashmi ,
Paul Petraro ,
Tara Rizzo ,
Hafsa Nawaz ,
Rabeea Choudhary ,
Baylah Tessier-Sherman ,
Stanislav Kasl  and
Haq Nawaz
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Abstract

Objectives: To assess and compare the prevalence of psychological morbidity among survivors of the 2005 northern Pakistan earthquake from Azad Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among randomly sampled survivors (N = 361) of the earthquake living in camps at the time of the interview, approximately 6 months after the earthquake.

Results: The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in the total sample was 51.5% and the prevalence of individuals who received positive scores on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) was 75%. The prevalence rates for anxiety and depression symptoms were 77.3% and 70.9%, respectively. The prevalence in Azad Kashmir was 57.9% for PTSD and 79.8% for positive HSCL, and NWFP had 41.3% PTSD and 67.4% positive HSCL. Study subjects from Azad Kashmir were approximately 2 times as likely to have PTSD or a positive HSCL when compared to subjects from NWFP (odds ratio 1.95, confidence interval 1.27-3.0; P = .0024) and (odds ratio 1.91, confidence interval 1.18-3.1; P = .0085), respectively.

Conclusions: Nearly half of the northern Pakistan earthquake survivors had symptoms of PTSD. Six months after the incident, more than three-fourths exhibited symptoms of an anxiety disorder.

(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2011;5:293–299)

Keywords

PTSDsexKashmirdisastersanxietydepressionmental disordersstress disorder, post-traumaticearthquakesPakistanKashmirwomen's healthsex factors
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 293 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2011

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