Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/6618
Citations
Scopus Web of ScienceĀ® Altmetric
?
?
Type: Journal article
Title: Psychiatric morbidity following a natural disaster: an Australian bushfire
Author: McFarlane, A.
Clayer, J.
Bookless, C.
Citation: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology: the international journal for research in social and genetic epidemiology and mental health services, 1997; 32(5):261-268
Publisher: SPRINGER VERLAG
Issue Date: 1997
ISSN: 0933-7954
1433-9285
Abstract: This study investigated the prevalence of mental health problems after a major bushfire in Australia and examined the validity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) (Goldberg 1978) against the Anxiety, Affective and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder modules of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS; Robins et al. 1981). Study 1 was carried out 12 months after the Ash Wednesday bushfires and sought to include all the victims of the fires. Study 2 was conducted 20 months after the fires and included a sample of victims who had experienced major losses in the fires. Twelve months after the fires, 42% (n = 1,526) of the victims were defined as a potential psychiatric case using the GHQ. This rate indicated a significantly greater level of morbidity than found in communities that have not experienced a natural disaster. Twenty months after the fires, 23% (n = 43) were defined as "cases". The 28-item GHQ was found to be a valid instrument for defining the presence of psychiatric disorder in a disaster-effected community. The findings demonstrated that lasting psychiatric morbidity is associated with natural disasters.
Keywords: Humans
Incidence
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Disasters
Fires
Australia
Female
Male
DOI: 10.1007/BF00789038
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf00789038
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest
Psychiatry publications

Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.