Identification of post traumatic stress disorder and risk factors in military first responders 6 months after Wen Chuan earthquake in China.

BACKGROUND: Military personnel commonly serve as first responders to natural disasters. Our aim is to identify Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and determine risk in military responders to the Wen Chuan earthquake.

METHODS: Analyses were carried out on 1056 of the 1125 soldiers enrolled. In addition to social demographic characteristics, the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) and an Earthquake exposure screening scale were administered.

RESULTS: PTSD prevalence was 6.53% (69 cases). Logistic regression indicated that intensity of traumatic exposure (odds ratio 6.46, 95% CI 4.47-9.32, p<0.001), not having received psychological counseling (odds ratio 3.28, 95% CI 1.31-8.20, p<0.02) and regular drinking (odds ratio 2.42, 95% CI 1.04-5.62, p<0.05) were significant predictors of PTSD. Being a single-child, not being raised by both parents and regular smoking also independently predicted PTSD if intensity of earthquake traumatic exposure was not included in the model.

LIMITATIONS: The self-rated DTS was used to classify PTSD in this study and psychiatric co-morbidity outside of PTSD was not assessed in this sample.

CONCLUSION: PTSD is a concern for Military disaster responders; to identify those with high risk of developing PTSD would be important and beneficial.