Posttraumatic Psychiatric Disorders and Resilience in Healthcare Providers following a Disastrous Earthquake: An Interventional Study in Taiwan

Abstract

Background Posttraumatic psychiatric disorders (PTPDs) are common in disaster workers; however, their incidence and resilience in healthcare providers (HCPs) following a disastrous earthquake are still unclear. Therefore, we conducted an interventional study to clarify this issue. Methods After a medical response to the scene of a collapsed huge building, we conducted an assessment of the HCPs using an immediate self-administered questionnaire and a follow-up questionnaire 1 month later. Psychological support after the operation was implemented. We performed analysis of the risk for PTPDs and comparison between immediate and follow-up questionnaires. Results The mean age (standard deviation) of the HCPs was 32.7 (5.2) years, with 33.5 (5.8) years for nurses and 32.4 (4.4) years for physicians. The proportion of females among the nurses and physicians was 94.3% and 12.5%, respectively. In total, 16.4% (11/67) of HCPs fit the criteria of PTPDs. Nurses had a trend of higher incidence than physicians. Female HCPs had a trend of higher incidence than male HCPs. After intervention, none of the HCPs reported PTPDs in the follow-up questionnaire (p < 0.05). Conclusion This study delineated that PTPDs were common in HCPs following medical response to an earthquake; however, the resilience was good after the early intervention.

Long-Term PTSD Risks in Emergency Medical Technicians Who Responded to the 2016 Taiwan Earthquake: A Six-Month Observational Follow-Up Study

“…Cumulative stress may increase the risk of PTSD in experienced rescuers [39]. Therefore, disaster rescuers should be monitored after missions, regardless of their age, gender, or previous experience with disaster response [40][41][42].…”

Interventions for the well-being of healthcare workers during a pandemic or other crisis: scoping review

“…Of the 13 publications discovered from academic databases, none were RCTs. The 13 publications included 6 prospective studies [10][11][12][13][14][15] and 7 descriptive studies [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] resembling protocols. The general quality of the studies therefore ranged from poor to fair according to the hierarchy of scientific evidence.…”

“…Prospective studies Details of the six prospective studies [10][11][12][13][14][15] are provided in box 1. All interventions targeted psychological wellbeing.…”

“…All interventions targeted psychological wellbeing. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Four interventions targeted the psychological well-being of HCWs in general, 10 11 13 14 one focused on the well-being of nurses 11 and one focused on the well-being of disaster mental health workers. 15 The contents of these interventions included education provision, 10 11 environmental restructuring, 12 meditation 13 15 or a mixture of education and meditation.…”

“…15 The contents of these interventions included education provision, 10 11 environmental restructuring, 12 meditation 13 15 or a mixture of education and meditation. 14 One study assessed acceptability of the intervention 11 and five measured intervention effectiveness. 10 12-15 Outcome measures included Likert scales of the authors own creation 10 11 13 or a broad range of anxiety, depression, mood and sleep scales.…”