Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Among Landslide Survivors: a Descriptive Study

Abstract

Introduction: Natural disasters cause many problems for survivors. Trauma, one such outcome of disasters, may result in the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study aimed to identify the level of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and also its predictor factors among survivors of a landslide disaster at Donorati Village community, Purworejo, Indonesia Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional design research using a quantitative approach. The population of this study were the landslide survivors in Purworejo district. While this research sample was 100 survivors who live in Donorati village. Cluster and consecutive sampling techniques was applied for this study. The variables of this study were PTSD, gender, age, education level, socio-economic status based on occupation, marriage status, severity of natural disaster, exposure to previous disaster events, landslide disaster impact (house damage, injured family members, and death of family members) and evacuation record. The instruments of this research were demographic form and The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Bivariate analysis was performed using Chi-squared test and Fisher’s test, followed by multivariate analysis using logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of probability of PTSD participants was 27%. Bivariate analysis revealed significant differences in PTSD levels based on sex (p-value = 0,02), age (p-value = 0,009), occupation (p-value = 0,02), severity of disaster (p-value = 0,008), the presence of injured family members (p-value = 0,018), and evacuation history (p-value = 0,001). The multivariate analysis revealed the factors related to PTSD after the landslide as gender and severity of the disaster impact. Conclusions: The level of PTSD was significantly different based on gender, age, occupation, severity of the disaster, the presence of injured family members, and a history of evacuation. Mental health and psychosocial support services need to be developed to help reduce the impact of disasters and to assist survivors to cope better with the outcomes of those events.