Acute stress-related psychological impact in children following devastating natural disaster, the Sikkim earthquake (2011), India

Rakesh Mondal; Indira Banerjee; Tapas Sabui; Abhisek Saren; Sumantra Sarkar; Avijit Hazra; Debabrata Majumder; Sudip Dutta; Partha Pan

doi:10.4103/0976-3147.116434

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Original Article

4 (

Supp 1

); S19-S23

doi:

10.4103/0976-3147.116434

Acute stress-related psychological impact in children following devastating natural disaster, the Sikkim earthquake (2011), India

Rakesh Mondal, Indira Banerjee, Tapas Sabui, Abhisek Saren, Sumantra Sarkar¹, Avijit Hazra², Debabrata Majumder³, Sudip Dutta⁴, Partha Pan⁵

Departments of Pediatric Medicine, Sikkim, India

1Departments of Pediatric Medicine, India

2Departments of Pharmacology, India

3Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

4Department of Pediatric Medicine, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim, India

5Departments Physical Medicine, North Bengal Medical College Darjeeling, India

Address for correspondence: Dr. Rakesh Mondal Departments of Pediatric Medicine, North Bengal Medical College Balarampur, Mahestala, Kolkata - 700 141 India ivanrakesh2001@gmail.com

Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice

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Abstract

ABSTRACT

Background: Psychological stress following natural disaster is common. Despite several earthquakes in India, data on evaluation of acute stress among the child victims in the early postdisaster period is scarce. Immediately following a devastating earthquake (6.9 Richter) at Sikkim on September, 18 2011, many children attended North Bengal Medical College, the nearest government tertiary care institution, with unusual stress symptoms. Objective: Evaluation of acute stress symptoms in children in the immediate postearthquake period. Materials and Methods: This was a cross‑sectional study done over 4 weeks and includes all the children from 1 to 12 years presenting with unusual physical or behavioral symptoms. Those with major injuries requiring admission were excluded. They were divided into two age groups. For older children (8-12 years) the 8‑item Children Impact of Event Scale (CIES) was used for screening of stress. Unusual symptoms were recorded in younger children (1-8 years) as CIES is not validated < 8 years. Result: A total of 84 children (2.66%) out of 3154 had stress symptoms. Maximum attendance was noted in first 3 days (65.47%) and declined gradually. In children ≥ 8 years, 48.78% had psychological stress, which was statistically significant on CIES scores without any gender predilection. Static posturing (41.86%), sleeplessness (32.55%), anorexia (9.30%), recurrent vomiting (13.95%), excessive crying (13.95%), or night‑awakenings (4.65%) were found in younger children (n = 43) and three required admission. Conclusion: This study represent the first Indian data showing statistically significant psychological impact in older children (8-12 years) and various forms of physical stress symptoms in young children (1-8 years) following earthquake.

Keywords

Acute stress symptoms

disaster

earthquake

physical symptom

psychological impact

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Conflict of Interest

None declared

References

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[1] Roussos A, Goenjian A. K., Steinberg A. M., Sotiropoulou C, Kakaki M, Kabakos C, et al . Posttraumatic stress and depressive reactions among children and adolescents after the 1999 earthquake in Ano Liosia, Greece. Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162:530-7.
[Google Scholar]

[2] Pynoos R. S., Goenjian A, Tashjian M, Karakashian M, Manjikian R, Manoukian G, et al . Post-traumatic stress reactions in children after the 1988 Armenian earthquake. Br J Psychiatry.. 1993;163:239-47.
[Google Scholar]

[3] Groome D, Soureti A, . Post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety symptoms in children exposed to the 1999 Greek earthquake. Br J Psychol. 2004;95:387-397.
[Google Scholar]

[4] [Last accessed on 2011 Sep 19]
[Publisher]

[5] Dyregrov A, Kuterovac G, Barath A, . Factor analysis of the impact of event scale with children in war. Scand J Psychol. 1996;37:339-50.
[Google Scholar]

[6] Kenardy J. A., Spence S. H., Macleod A. C., . Screening for posttraumatic stress disorder in children after accidental injury. Pediatrics. 2006;118:1002-9.
[Google Scholar]

[7] Asarnow J, Glynn S, Pynoos R. S., Nahum J, Guthrie D, Cantwell D. P., et al . When the earth stops shaking: Earthquake sequelae among children diagnosed for pre-earthquake psychopathology. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1999;38:1016-23.
[Google Scholar]

[8] Shioyama A, Uemoto M, Shinfuku N, Ide H, Seki W, Mori S, . et al. The mental health of school children after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: II. Longitudinal analysis. Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi. 2000;102:481-97.
[Google Scholar]

[9] McDermott B. M., Palmer L. J., . Postdisaster emotional distress, depression and event related variables: Findings across child and adolescent developmental stages. Australian N Z Psychiatry. 2002;36:754-76.
[Google Scholar]

[10] Brewin C. R., Rose S, Andrews B, Green J, Tata P, McEvedy C, et al . Brief screening instrument for post-traumatic stress disorder. Br J Psychiatry. 2002;181:158-62.
[Google Scholar]

[11] Goenjian A. K., Walling D, Steinberg A. M., Roussos A, Goenjian H. A., Pynoos R. S., . Depression and PTSD symptoms among bereaved adolescents 6 (1/2) years after the 1988 Spitak earthquake. J Affect Disord. 2009;112:81-4.
[Google Scholar]

[12] Horowitz M. J., Wilner N, Alvarez W, . Impact of event scale: A measure of subjective stress. Psychosom Med. 1979;41:209-18.
[Google Scholar]

[13] Perrin S, Meiser-Stedman R, Smith P, . The children’s revised impact of event scale (CRIES): Validity as a screening instrument for PTSD. Behav Cognit Psychother. 2005;33:487-498.
[Google Scholar]

[14] Stallard P, Velleman R, Baldwin S, . Psychological screening of children for post-traumatic stress disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatr. 1999;40:1075-82.
[Google Scholar]

[15] Demir T, Demir D. E., Alkas L, Copur M, Dogangun B, Kayaalp L, . Some clinical characteristics of children who survived the Marmara earthquakes. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010;19:125-33.
[Google Scholar]

[16] Bulut S, Bulut S, Tayli A, . The dose of exposure and prevalence rates of post traumatic stress disorder in a sample of Turkish children eleven months after the 1999 Marmara earthquakes. Sch Psychol Int. 2005;26:55-70.
[Google Scholar]

[17] Toyabe S, Shioiri T, Kuwabara H, Endoh T, Tanabe N, Someya T, et al . Impaired psychological recovery in the elderly after the Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake in Japan: A population-based study. BMC Public Health. 2006;14(6):230.
[Google Scholar]

[18] Hoare P, . Emotional disorders. In Essential Child Psychiatry. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1993. p. :111-31.
[Google Scholar]

[19] Soldatos C. R., Paparrigopoulos T. J., Pappa D. A., Christodoulou G. N., . Early post-traumatic stress disorder in relation to acute stress reaction: An ICD-10 study among help seekers following an earthquake. Psychiatry Res. 2006;143:245-53.
[Google Scholar]

[20] Yatoto G, Syed A, Rangrez R, Singh D, . Profile of patients admitted in a large teaching hospital as a result of earthquake in kashmir during october 2005. Int J Health Sci (Qassim). 2009;3:209-12.
[Google Scholar]

[21] Jain V, Noponen R, Smith B. M., . Pediatric surgical emergencies in the setting of a natural disaster: Experiences from the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India. J Pediatr Surg. 2003;38:663-7.
[Google Scholar]

[22] Sharan P, Chaudhary G, Kavathekar S. A., Saxena S, . Preliminary report of psychiatric disorders in survivors of a severe earthquake. Am J Psychiatry. 1996;153:556-8.
[Google Scholar]

[23] Chadda R. K., Malhotra A, Kaw N, Singh J, Sethi H, . Mental health problems following the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir: Findings of community-run clinics. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2007;22:541-5.
[Google Scholar]

[24] Math S. B., Tandon S, Girimaji S. C., Benegal V, Kumar U, Hamza A, . et al. Psychological impact of the tsunami on children and adolescents from the andaman and nicobar islands. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;10:31-7.
[Google Scholar]

[25] [Last accessed on 2012 Nov 11]
[Publisher]

Acute stress-related psychological impact in children following devastating natural disaster, the Sikkim earthquake (2011), India

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Keywords

Acute stress symptoms

disaster

earthquake

physical symptom

psychological impact

Conflict of Interest

References

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