Abstract
This study aimed to compare the psychological symptoms of humidifier disinfectant survivors to the general population and explore socio-demographic factors influencing survivors’ psychological symptoms. A one-way Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) and a series of two-way MANCOVA were conducted with a sample of 228 humidifier disinfectant survivors and 228 controls. The results demonstrated that the survivor group displayed higher anxious/depressed symptoms, withdrawn symptoms, somatic complaints, thought problems, attention problems, aggressive behavior and rule-breaking behavior than the general group. Moreover, among the socio-demographic factors, the two-way interaction effects of group × family economic status and group × number of friends were found to be statistically significant. The limitations and implications of this study are discussed.
Highlights
In April 2011, media reported that mothers had a mysterious disease at Asan MedicalCenter in Seoul, South Korea [1]
The first purpose of this study was to compare the psychological symptoms of humidifier disinfectant survivors and general groups
Consistent with previous studies [19] that suggested that social disasters have a serious impact on the mental health of survivors, the mean differences in scores between humidifier disinfectant disaster survivors and general groups in this study indicated that survivors experienced severe psychological difficulties
Summary
Center in Seoul, South Korea [1]. Six women were hospitalized in the respiratory intensive care unit before and after childbirth. The symptoms were respiratory failure and pulmonary fibrosis [2]. The patients were not from one area, but from all over Korea. The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) commissioned an epidemiological investigation to determine the cause of these unique symptoms. The results showed that the humidifier disinfectant, a biocide used by adding to the water in the humidifier, was causing these diseases [1,2]. According to the CDC, humidifier disinfectants are absorbed into the body through the nose, mouth and skin during respiration, which has a deleterious effect on lung disease [2]
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