Posttraumatic stress and other health consequences of catastrophic avalanches: A 16-year follow-up of survivors.

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the page To date, no study has investigated the effects of avalanches on survivor's health beyond the first years. The aim of this study was to examine long-term health status 16 years after exp...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Anxiety Disorders
Main Authors: Thordardottir, Edda Bjork, Valdimarsdottir, Unnur Anna, Hansdottir, Ingunn, Resnick, Heidi, Shipherd, Jillian C, Gudmundsdottir, Berglind
Other Authors: 1 Univ Iceland, Ctr Publ Hlth Sci, Fac Med, Sch Hlth Sci, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland 2 Univ Iceland, Fac Psychol, Sch Hlth Sci, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland 3 Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Boston, MA 02115 USA 4 Med Univ S Carolina, Dept Psychiat & Behav Sci, Charleston, SC 29403 USA 5 VA Boston Healthcare Syst, Natl Ctr PTSD, Boston, MA USA 6 Boston Univ, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, Boston, MA 02215 USA 7 Landspitali Natl Univ Hosp Iceland, Mental Hlth Serv, Reykjavik, Iceland
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd. 2015
Subjects:
Snjóflóð
Áfallastreita
Avalanches
Disasters
Mental Health
Stress Disorders
Post-Traumatic
Health Status
Survivors/psychology*
Risk Factors
Follow-Up Studies
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2336/565637
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.03.005
Description
Summary:To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the page To date, no study has investigated the effects of avalanches on survivor's health beyond the first years. The aim of this study was to examine long-term health status 16 years after exposure to avalanches using a matched cohort design. Mental health, sleep quality and somatic symptoms among avalanche survivors (n=286) and non-exposed controls (n=357) were examined. Results showed that 16% of survivors currently experience avalanche-specific PTSD symptoms (PDS score>14). In addition, survivors presented with increased risk of PTSD hyperarousal symptoms (>85th percentile) (aRR=1.83; 98.3% CI [1.23-2.74]); sleep-related problems (PSQI score>5) (aRR=1.34; 95% CI [1.05-1.70]); PTSD-related sleep disturbances (PSQI-A score≥4) (aRR=1.86; 95% CI [1.30-2.67]); musculoskeletal and nervous system problems (aRR 1.43; 99% CI 1.06-1.93) and gastrointestinal problems (aRR 2.16; 99% CI 1.21-3.86) compared to the unexposed group. Results highlight the need for treatment for long-term PTSD symptoms and sleep disruption in disaster communities. University of Iceland Research Fund Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students (Rannis) Landspitali University Hospital Research Fund

Similar Items