Objective: To investigate the prevalence of anxiety among tent inhabitants one month after the 5.12 Sichuan earthquake as to formulating intervention strategies.
Methods: A stratified random sampling method was adopted. Inclusion criteria were: inhabitants, aged above 18 years old, living in tent in 13 relief centers of 4 townships in Jiangyou city; and only one person from each tent/family could be enrolled in this study. A total of 402 subjects were interviewed with Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). SAS scores were compared between different groups and symptomatic differences between anxiety and non-anxiety victims were analyzed by stepwise multiple regression analysis.
Results: The prevalence of anxiety among tent inhabitants was 22.1% (89/402). A higher rate of anxiety was observed in senior age group than in younger age group (F = 7.03, P < 0.01). Age with > or = 50 years (42.85 +/- 11.15), 40-49 years (41.57 +/- 10.30), 30-39 years (37.99 +/- 9.66), 18-29 years (36.62 +/- 9.92). Female (43.13 +/- 10.45) had a high rate of anxiety than male (36.80 +/- 9.88) (t = -6.09, P < 0.01). The most common symptoms were anxiety (79.4%, 319/402), fatigue (68.2%, 274/402), phobia (65.7%, 264/402), sleep disorders (65.4%, 263/402), unfortunate feelings (65.2% , 262/402), akathisia (59.7%, 240/402), and fear (58.2%, 234/402). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that insane feelings(t = 5.37, P < 0.01), trembling(t = 5.33, P < 0.01), dyspnea (t = 4.28, P < 0.01), unfortunate feelings (t = 3.87, P < 0.01), headache(t = 3.85, P < 0.01), facial flushing (t = 3.48, P <0.01), fatigue (t = 3.27, P < 0.01), dizziness (t = 2.79, P < 0.01), frequent micturition (t = 2.41, P < 0.05), and akathisia (t = 2.31, P < 0.05) were more frequently experienced in the anxiety victims than non-anxiety victims.
Conclusion: Tent inhabitants in the post-earthquake relief centers exhibit a higher prevalence of anxiety as compared with the general population. Much attention should be paid to elderly, female, and those who have developed specific symptoms such as insane feelings, trembling, dyspnea, etc. Meanwhile, some intervention measures should be timely taken.