Prevalence of Psychopathology and Socio-Demographic Characteristics among Earthquake survivors in Eastern Azerbaijan (Iran)

Introduction: This study aimed to prospectively analyze the effect of a major earthquake on the prevalence of psychological disorders such as acute stress disorder (ASD), anxiety, depression, mixed anxiety depression disorder (MADD), phobia, aggressive behavior, insomnia, psychosomatic disorders and also socio-demographic aspects among residents of rural community sample in East Azerbaijan, Iran. Methods: The sample was composed of 801 adults exposed to the earthquakes. Two months after the earthquakes, all subjects were approached with questions from a survey consisting of the Measures were administrated in a standard order as follows: Demographic Data Sheet, Disaster Experiences Scale (DES), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Results:The results revealed that 23% in the exposed group had Acute Stress Disorder (ASD), 10% had anxiety symptoms, 7.5% depression, 4% MADD, 5% psychosomatic disorders, 10% phobia, 7% aggressive behavior and 10% suffer from insomnia. Conclusion:This article has summarized the current status of information on mental disorders caused by experiencing or witnessing a life threatening severe earthquake. The experience of fear, helplessness, and panic during the earthquake, and the appraisal by the victims of serious psychological, social and demographical consequences after the earthquake, were positively related to the subscale scores and the total score of GHQ SCL-90-R and DES