[Investigation of anxiety among 402 tent inhabitants in Jiangyou city after the 5.12 Sichuan earthquake].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of anxiety among tent inhabitants one month after the 5.12 Sichuan earthquake as to formulating intervention strategies.


METHODS
A stratified random sampling method was adopted. Inclusion criteria were: inhabitants, aged above 18 years old, living in tent in 13 relief centers of 4 townships in Jiangyou city; and only one person from each tent/family could be enrolled in this study. A total of 402 subjects were interviewed with Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). SAS scores were compared between different groups and symptomatic differences between anxiety and non-anxiety victims were analyzed by stepwise multiple regression analysis.


RESULTS
The prevalence of anxiety among tent inhabitants was 22.1% (89/402). A higher rate of anxiety was observed in senior age group than in younger age group (F = 7.03, P < 0.01). Age with > or = 50 years (42.85 +/- 11.15), 40-49 years (41.57 +/- 10.30), 30-39 years (37.99 +/- 9.66), 18-29 years (36.62 +/- 9.92). Female (43.13 +/- 10.45) had a high rate of anxiety than male (36.80 +/- 9.88) (t = -6.09, P < 0.01). The most common symptoms were anxiety (79.4%, 319/402), fatigue (68.2%, 274/402), phobia (65.7%, 264/402), sleep disorders (65.4%, 263/402), unfortunate feelings (65.2% , 262/402), akathisia (59.7%, 240/402), and fear (58.2%, 234/402). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that insane feelings(t = 5.37, P < 0.01), trembling(t = 5.33, P < 0.01), dyspnea (t = 4.28, P < 0.01), unfortunate feelings (t = 3.87, P < 0.01), headache(t = 3.85, P < 0.01), facial flushing (t = 3.48, P <0.01), fatigue (t = 3.27, P < 0.01), dizziness (t = 2.79, P < 0.01), frequent micturition (t = 2.41, P < 0.05), and akathisia (t = 2.31, P < 0.05) were more frequently experienced in the anxiety victims than non-anxiety victims.


CONCLUSIONS
Tent inhabitants in the post-earthquake relief centers exhibit a higher prevalence of anxiety as compared with the general population. Much attention should be paid to elderly, female, and those who have developed specific symptoms such as insane feelings, trembling, dyspnea, etc. Meanwhile, some intervention measures should be timely taken.
Yuan
Jun
J
Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Wang
Ming
M
Li
Tie-Gang
TG
Wang
De-Dong
DD
Hu
Zhi-Gang
ZG
Liu
Jian-Ping
JP
Zhang
Min
M
Wu
Da-Wei
DW
Liang
Yong-Jian
YJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires