Identification of post traumatic stress disorder and risk factors in military first responders 6 months after Wen Chuan earthquake in China

Background ry personnel commonly serve as first responders to natural disasters. Our aim is to identify Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and determine risk in military responders to the Wen Chuan earthquake. s es were carried out on 1056 of the 1125 soldiers enrolled. In addition to social demographic characteristics, the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) and an Earthquake exposure screening scale were administered. s revalence was 6.53% (69 cases). Logistic regression indicated that intensity of traumatic exposure (odds ratio 6.46, 95% CI 4.47–9.32, p < 0.001), not having received psychological counseling (odds ratio 3.28, 95% CI 1.31–8.20, p < 0.02) and regular drinking (odds ratio 2.42, 95% CI 1.04–5.62, p < 0.05) were significant predictors of PTSD. Being a single-child, not being raised by both parents and regular smoking also independently predicted PTSD if intensity of earthquake traumatic exposure was not included in the model. tions lf-rated DTS was used to classify PTSD in this study and psychiatric co-morbidity outside of PTSD was not assessed in this sample. sion s a concern for Military disaster responders; to identify those with high risk of developing PTSD would be important and beneficial.