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Mental health and quality of life survey among child survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

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Abstract

Purpose

To characterize child survivors’ mental health and quality of life after a massive earthquake.

Methods

A population-based survey of 596 children aged between 8 and 16 years was conducted in the severely affected areas of the earthquake, using a multi-stage systematic sampling design.

Results

The point prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among the child survivors aged between 8 and 16 years 15 months after the earthquake were 12.4 and 13.9%, respectively. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was found to be strongly and negatively associated with PTSD and depression. Children who had lost family members were most likely to develop PTSD (OR = 6.6; P < 0.001) as well as depression (OR = 4.1; P < 0.001). Children who reported no utilization of mental health services were four times more likely to suffer from PTSD than those who did not (P = 0.002).

Conclusions

More than one in five child survivors were identified as having PTSD or depression; HRQoL of these identified children were deeply compromised. Utilization of mental health services may significantly reduce the risk of developing PTSD symptoms.

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Abbreviations

PTSD:

Posttraumatic stress disorder

HRQoL:

Health-related quality of life

CPTSD-RI:

Child posttraumatic stress disorder reaction index

CDI:

Children’s depression inventory

PedsQL:

Pediatric quality of life inventory 4.0

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project, Project Number: B907, and Disaster Research Fund of Second Military Medical University.

Conflict of interest statements

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health Service, Second Military Medical University, 200433, Shanghai, China

    Zhaobao Jia, Wenhua Tian & Xiang He

  2. Department of Psychology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China

    Weizhi Liu

  3. Department of Health Planning and Financing, Municipal Health Bureau of Shanghai, Shanghai, China

    Chunlin Jin

  4. Health Development Research Center, Shanghai, China

    Hansheng Ding

Authors
  1. Zhaobao Jia
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  2. Wenhua Tian
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  3. Xiang He
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  4. Weizhi Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wenhua Tian.

Additional information

Zhaobao Jia, Wenhua Tian and Xiang He contributed equally to the article.

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Jia, Z., Tian, W., He, X. et al. Mental health and quality of life survey among child survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Qual Life Res 19, 1381–1391 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9703-8

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