title: Disaster severity and emotional disturbance: implications for primary mental health care in developing countries.
abstract: Two months following the 1987 earthquakes in Ecuador, 150 patients in the primary health care clinics of the area were screened for emotional problems; 40% of them were emotionally distressed. Risk factors included not being married, reporting poor physical or emotional health, and having ill-defined physical complaints. The findings from this research are discussed in relation to a disaster of much greater intensity, whose victims were studied by the authors, utilizing the same instrument and research design. The comparison between these 2 groups of disaster victims revealed that: 1) the prevalence of emotional distress was smaller among the Ecuador victims, but the frequency of symptoms among the distressed was similar for both groups; 2) the symptom profiles were remarkably similar; and 3) the most frequent symptoms and the strongest predictors of emotional distress were very similar. These findings support a focused training of health care workers on selected emotional problems that are regularly present among victims of different disasters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Samaniego
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pompei
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Santacruz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lozano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000639:trends*; D003906:Developing Countries; D004190:Disasters; D004484:Ecuador; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000639:trends; D012307:Risk Factors; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*