title: A longitudinal study of quality of life of earthquake survivors in L'Aquila, Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  People's well-being after loss resulting from an earthquake is a concern in countries prone to natural disasters. Most studies on post-earthquake subjective quality of life (QOL) have focused on the effects of psychological impairment and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the psychological dimension of QOL. However, there is a need for studies focusing on QOL in populations not affected by PTSD or psychological impairment. The aim of this study was to estimate QOL changes over an 18-month period in an adult population sample after the L'Aquila 2009 earthquake.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was designed as a longitudinal survey with four repeated measurements performed at six monthly intervals. The setting was the general population of an urban environment after a disruptive earthquake. Participants included 397 healthy adult subjects. Exclusion criteria were comorbidities such as physical, psychological, psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases at the beginning of the study. The primary outcome measure was QOL, as assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF instrument. A generalised estimating equation model was run for each WHOQOL-BREF domain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, QOL scores were observed to be significantly higher 18 months after the earthquake in all WHOQOL-BREF domains. The model detected an average increase in the physical QOL scores (from 66.6 ± 5.2 to 69.3 ± 4.7), indicating a better overall physical QOL for men. Psychological domain scores (from 64.9 ± 5.1 to 71.5 ± 6.5) were observed to be worse in men than in women. Levels at the WHOQOL domain for psychological health increased from the second assessment onwards in women, indicating higher resiliency. Men averaged higher scores than women in terms of social relationships and the environmental domain. Regarding the physical, psychological and social domains of QOL, scores in the elderly group (age > 60) were observed to be similar to each other regardless of the significant covariates used.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WHOQOL-BREF scores of the psychological domain displayed trends conditioned by age and education: older subjects experienced less satisfaction with psychological health on average. Less-educated subjects always demonstrated the worst QOL scores. Gender, age and education impacted the variability of QOL in the environmental dimension in the elderly.
authors: Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology, Section of Clinical Epidemiology and Environmental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito 2, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy. marco.valenti@univaq.it.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Valenti
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Masedu
authors: Monica
authors: M
authors: Mazza
authors: Sergio
authors: S
authors: Tiberti
authors: Chiara
authors: C
authors: Di Giovanni
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Calvarese
authors: Roberta
authors: R
authors: Pirro
authors: Vittorio
authors: V
authors: Sconci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data