title: The impact of the catastrophic earthquake in China's Sichuan province on the mental health of pregnant women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province. Recent studies have identified mental health problems among the survivors, but little is known about the impact of the Sichuan earthquake on the mental health of pregnant women in the area. The main objective was to assess the impact of the Sichuan earthquake on the mental health of pregnant women in earthquake stricken areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  During November 2009 and January 2010, 311 pregnant women were interviewed. Symptoms of PTSD were measured using IES-R, while symptoms of antenatal depression were measured using EPDS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence rate of PTSD symptoms was 12.2% (95% CI, 9.0-16.4). The rate of major depression was 40.8% (95% CI, 35.5-46.4). Living through an earthquake has been significantly correlated with PTSD but no significant correlation has been found with depression. The perceived stresses of pregnancy are significantly correlated with both depression and PTSD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lack of long term follow up data and comparison group from non earthquake struck area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  18 months after the Sichuan earthquake, the incidence of depression and PTSD were still quite high among pregnant women in the earthquake stricken areas. Depression was more common than PTSD. Living through an earthquake has been significantly correlated with PTSD but not with depression.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development and Public Policy, China Institute of Health, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development and Public Policy, China Institute of Health, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Donghua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: MianZhu People's Hosiptal, Mianzhu, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development and Public Policy, China Institute of Health, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development and Public Policy, China Institute of Health, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development and Public Policy, China Institute of Health, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhang99@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiulan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Vocational College of Electronic Science and Technology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development and Public Policy, China Institute of Health, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult