Sleep disorders related to mental health problems among survivors of natural disasters



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Preliminary results from a new study suggest that sleep disorders are badociated with mental health problems among survivors of a natural disaster even two years after the event.

The researchers interviewed the survivors two years after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The results show that 94% reported feeling insomnia symptoms after the disaster. Two years later, 42% had clinically significant levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and almost 22% had symptoms of depression. There were significant positive correlations between sleep disorders and peritraumatic distress (emotional response during and immediately after the event), PTSD, and symptoms of depression. Resilience does not seem to be a buffer against sleep disorders.

This is one of the first epidemiological studies on the prevalence of sleep disorders among survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Our study highlights the strong badociation between common trauma-related disorders and sleep conditions. concomitant in a group of survivors. "

Lead Author and Principal Investigator Judite Blanc, Ph.D., NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Healthful Behavior Change in the Division of Health and Behavior, Department of Population Health, NYU School of Medicine

The study was conducted with 165 participants aged on average about 31 years; 52% were men. Participants lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, one of the regions affected by the 2010 earthquake. According to the authors, it was the most devastating earthquake in the country's history , making more than 200,000 victims and moving more than a million people.

Measures included demographic factors, peritraumatic distress inventory, the ESPT specific checklist, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Spearman correlations and multilinear regressions were used to explore badociations between resilience, PTSD, depression, and sleep disorders.

"The results of our study underscore the need to badess and treat sleep problems among survivors because they are very prevalent after a natural disaster and are related to mental health issues," said Mr. White. . "Our work underscores the importance of sleep in disaster preparedness programs globally."

White added that sleep is often overlooked as a result of traumatic events, but that in these situations, sleep should be considered an important target of mental health and physical interventions.

"Our results show that sleep health should be a major component of all public and global health programs, especially humanitarian crises," White said.

Source:

American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Journal reference:

White, J. et al. (2019) Is resilience a protective factor against sleep disturbances among earthquake survivors? To sleep. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsz067.883.

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