Three-year follow-up study of the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and quality of life among earthquake survivors in Yu-Chi, Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively evaluate the relationship between the clinical course of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and quality of life (QOL) among Taiwan earthquake survivors for 3 years.


METHODS
A population survey was done in a Taiwan township near the epicenter of a severe earthquake (7.3 on the Richter scale). Trained assistants used the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36) and the Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test to interview earthquake survivors 16 and older. A total of 1756 respondents were surveyed during the 3-year follow-up period.


RESULTS
At 0.5 and 3 years after the earthquake, the estimated rate of PTSS (cutoff point, 3/4) was 23.8% and 4.4%, respectively. The survivors with PTSS scored lower for each concept of the MOS SF-36 at these two intervals. Three years after the earthquake, the survivors in the persistently healthy group showed the highest scores in all subscales and domains of the MOS SF-36; second-highest was the recovering group; third-highest was the delayed PTSS group; and the persistent PTSS group showed the lowest scores in all concepts and domains. Notably, survivors with delayed onset PTSS exhibited a lower QOL when PTSS occurred.


CONCLUSIONS
Three years after the earthquake, the estimated rate of PTSS had declined, and the QOL of the survivors varied according to how their PTSS had progressed.
Tsai
Kuan-Yi
KY
Community Medicine Research Center and Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan.
Chou
Pesus
P
Chou
Frank Huang-Chih
FH
Su
Tom Tung-Ping
TT
Lin
Shih-Chi
SC
Lu
Ming-Kun
MK
Ou-Yang
Wen-Chen
WC
Su
Chao-Yueh
CY
Chao
Shih-Shih
SS
Huang
Ming-Wei
MW
Wu
Huang-Chi
HC
Sun
Wen-Jung
WJ
Su
Shu-Fang
SF
Chen
Ming-Chao
MC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology