Wednesday 6 August 2008

Effects On Mental Health Assessed After Devastating Tsunami In Sumatra

�Researchers examined the levels of send traumatic stress reactivity (PTSR) of over 20,000 adult tsunami survivors by analyzing survey data from coastal Aceh and North Sumatra, Indonesia. The findings are from the first-class honours degree wave of a long-term prospective longitudinal follow-up study examining the nature and course of mental health consequences and moderating influences among a population in Indonesia moved by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Survey respondents were classified into trio damage zones using satellite imagery of their pre-tsunami locations of residence from before and after the disaster.




Overall, 34 pct of the respondents experient the psychic trauma of either hearing the tsunami wave or screams about it and 6 percent watched family or friends struggle or disappear. Both exposure to traumatic events at the time of the tsunami and subsequent PTSR scores were highest for respondents from heavily discredited areas. Scores declined over time for respondents from all trey damage zones. Gender and age were significant predictors of PTSR, whereas socioeconomic status before the tsunami was non.




"We anticipate that this 5-year subject will provide important cognition about long-term mental health outcomes after catastrophic catastrophe and a rationale for attention by international health organizations to sustain interventions beyond the immediate postcrisis period, and will guide the economic consumption of bedded public mental health postdisaster programs," the study's authors forecast.
[From: "Mental Health in Sumatra After the Tsunami,"].




The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. APHA is a leading publisher of books and periodicals promoting reasoned scientific standards, action programs and public policy to enhance wellness.



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