Abstract
Background: On December 26, 2004, Asian tsunami attacked the southern part of Thailand. The tsunami induced catastrophic consequences. There was no study of long-term mental health outcomes among adult survivors by natural disasters in Thailand. Objective: The purposes of the present study were to determine prevalence and longitudinal course of PTSD, depression, and anxiety among tsunami affecting Thai people, and to identify factors associated with PTSD, depression, and anxiety in this particular group. Material and Method: The present study was a population-based longitudinal study. The third mental health assessment was conducted among adult survivors older than 17 years at three years after tsunami. PTSD, depression and anxiety were assessed by using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) and the Hopkins Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) respectively. Results: 550 of 693 affected people in Phang Nga province were enrolled in the follow-up survey at three years after tsunami. Prevalence of PTSD, anxiety, and depression among affected people decreased from 9.5% (66/693), 33.6% (233/693) and 25.7% (178/693), at two months after tsunami, to 2.6% (13/503), 18.7% (94/503), and 14.1% (71/503) at three years after tsunami respectively. Risk factors for mental health problems were post-traumatic life stress such as the loss of livelihood for PTSD, depression and anxiety, and pre-traumatic vulnerabilities such as sex (female), education, and previous mental illness for depression and anxiety. Conclusion: PTSD, depression and anxiety among tsunami affecting Thai people decreased over time. Pre-traumatic vulnerable factors and post-traumatic life stress were associated with PTSD, depression and anxiety. These results are acknowledgeable by two points: first, it is important to provide both mental health intervention and psychosocial intervention in rehabilitation phase for the affected people; second, duration of intervention should be at least three years after severely impacted disaster.
Highlights
The Asian tsunami 2004 which struck 6 Andaman coastal provinces of Thailand on 26th December, 2004, resulted in 5395 death and $21 million dollars damage
The present study found that, in the survivors of tsunami, the symptoms of anxiety and depression were more common than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which were similar to finding from the other study [18]
The present study showed that all of mental health problems (PTSD, depression and anxiety) were significantly associated with the loss of livelihood which was similar to the finding in the first survey [12]
Summary
The Asian tsunami 2004 which struck 6 Andaman coastal provinces of Thailand on 26th December, 2004, resulted in 5395 death and $21 million dollars damage. Objective: The purposes of the present study were to determine prevalence and longitudinal course of PTSD, depression, and anxiety among tsunami affecting Thai people, and to identify factors associated with PTSD, depression, and anxiety in this particular group. Prevalence of PTSD, anxiety, and depression among affected people decreased from 9.5% (66/693), 33.6% (233/693) and 25.7% (178/693), at two months after tsunami, to 2.6% (13/503), 18.7% (94/503), and 14.1% (71/503) at three years after tsunami respectively. Pre-traumatic vulnerable factors and post-traumatic life stress were associated with PTSD, depression and anxiety. These results are acknowledgeable by two points: first, it is important to provide both mental health intervention and psychosocial intervention in rehabilitation phase for the affected people; second, duration of intervention should be at least three years after severely impacted disaster
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
