Risk Factors and Outcomes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbid Mental Disorders among 1988 Spitak Earthquake Survivors

Abstract

Mental disorders are widespread among individuals in different age group. Anxiety disorders, more specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are among of the most common psychiatric conditions in individuals exposed to a traumatic experience such as natural disaster. Various studies have shown different risk factors for PTSD. Low socioeconomic status, female gender, low formal education and young age at the time of trauma are among the well known risk factors. The 1988 Spitak earthquake was a major disaster which hit the northern part of Armenia. Several studies examining the psychological status of earthquake survivors showed high rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD and other comorbid conditions. A major study investigated the risk factors of PTSD among the earthquake survivors in 1990s. The study was the first to find a positive association between PTSD and amount of loss. Twenty years later we conducted a small pilot study among the individuals who participated in the previous study and found symptoms of PTSD among about 23% of the participants. Based on this finding, we propose a follow-up study among individuals who participated in the 1990s study to investigate risk factors for long-lasting PTSD and other comorbid disorders and also to identify determinants for health-related quality of life in the same cohort. The design of this proposed study should be case-control, where cases and controls will be identified based on the PTSD status of the participants. Calculated sample size for this study totaled to 772.