Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:556-558
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Preliminary report of psychiatric disorders in survivors of a severe earthquake
P Sharan, G Chaudhary, SA Kavathekar and S Saxena
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to study psychiatric morbidity after a
natural disaster in rural India. METHOD: As members of a volunteer medical
team assigned to 23 households in three villages in India affected by an
earthquake, the authors examined the results of semi- structured interviews
used to interview all of the adults (older than 14 years) in these
households (N=56). DSM-III-R diagnoses were assigned on the basis of these
interviews, and non-parametric tests were applied to comparisons of
subjects who were or were not given a psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS:
Thirty-three (59%) of the subjects received a psychiatric diagnosis; the
most common diagnoses were posttraumatic stress disorder (13 subjects
[23%]) and major depression (12 subjects [21%]). Psychiatric morbidity was
associated with female sex, destruction of house, and destruction of
possessions. CONCLUSIONS: Attention to the mental health needs of disaster
survivors in third world countries is indicated.
