title: Identification and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in rescue workers in the Marmara, Turkey, earthquake.
abstract: After the 1999 Marmara Turkey earthquake, 434 volunteer rescue workers and 154 soldiers who were control subjects completed the Questionnaire for Identification with Deceased Victims and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Identification with the Deceased as Oneself, Identification with the Deceased as a Friend, Identification with the Deceased as a Family Member, and IES-R Intrusion, Avoidance, and Hyperarousal subscale scores were significantly higher in rescue workers. Identification-Self, Identification-Friend, and Identification-Family correlated with the IES-R subscale and total scores. The set of identification variables was significantly associated with group membership before, but not after, IES-R scores were controlled. Findings suggest that identification with deceased victims, not rescue work per se, is the risk factor of concern for posttraumatic stress disorder in rescue workers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Gulhane Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.forename: Samet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kose
authors.forename: Servet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ebrinc
authors.forename: Suat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yigit
authors.forename: Jon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Elhai
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Basoglu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology