Traumatic impact of a fire disaster on survivors--a 25-year follow-up of the 1978 hotel fire in Borås, Sweden.
The objective of this study was to investigate the long-term psychological and mental health outcomes among survivors of a disastrous hotel fire. A 25-year follow-up investigation among adolescent and young adult survivors of a fire disaster was conducted in Borås, Sweden. A self-evaluation questionnaire and four self-rating scales - the IES-22, PTSS-10, GHQ-28 and SoC - were sent by mail to the participants. The results from the self-reported data showed low levels of psychiatric illness. Moreover, the respondents reported a low level of traumatic stress symptoms. More than 50% of the participants stated that the fire had a determining effect on their lives. Sixteen (21.3%) respondents indicated that the fire still had an impact on their daily lives. Differences between men and women were reported in most of the self-rating scales. The results indicate that a traumatizing experience (such as a fire disaster) still had a small effect on psychological health in a long-term perspective.
Lundin
Tom
T
Department of Neuroscience, University of Uppsala, Sweden. tom.lundin@neuro.uu.se
Jansson
Lennart
L
D000328:Adult; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003710:Demography; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires / Q000266:history*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000266:history; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology