摘要：Two months after the December 2004 tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India, we surveyed adults aged 18 years or older in a severely affected coastal village using structured interviews and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder was 12.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]=9.4%, 17.1%), and odds of posttraumatic stress disorder were higher among individuals with no household incomes, women, and those injured during the tsunami. In addition to promoting feelings of safety, interventions aimed toward populations affected by the December 2004 tsunami need to focus on income-generating activities. Also, there is a need to target initiatives toward women and those individuals injured during the tsunami, given that these groups are more likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorder. The tsunami that struck south and southeast Asia on December 26, 2004, was one of the worst natural disasters in history, with estimates of more than 280000 deaths, 27000 individuals missing, and approximately 1.2 million people displaced; in addition, the extensive damage to homes and property altered the lives of millions of people. 1 The unprecedented calamity affected many coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, India, resulting in 7983 deaths and the need to relocate 44207 individuals to camps and 499962 to safer areas. 2 In the absence of information on the mental health consequences of the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, we organized and conducted a community-based household survey among adults in a tsunami-affected coastal village. Our objectives were to estimate the prevalence among residents of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), identify risk factors for PTSD, offer psychiatric help to those in need, and formulate culturally appropriate responses to address mental health problems in tsunami-affected communities.
