Psychological impact of the Spring 2019 flood among adult population of Iran

Amir Tiyuri, Maryam Rasoulian, Ahmad Hajebi, Morteza Naserbakht, Amir Shabani, Mitra Hakim Shooshtari, Aziz Rezapour and Seyed Abbas Motevalian

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2023, vol. 69, issue 8, 1916-1927

Abstract: Background: From March to April 2019, a flood occurred in several regions of Iran. The most affected provinces were Golestan, Lorestan, and Khuzestan. Aims: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of psychological distress and depression among the affected adult population 6 months after the event. Methods: A cross-sectional household survey with face-to-face interview was carried out on a random sample of 1,671 adults aged above 15 years living in the flood-affected areas from August to September 2019. We applied GHQ-28 and PHQ-9 for the assessment of psychological distress and depression, respectively. Results: The prevalence of psychological distress and depression were 33.6% (95% CI [29.5, 37.7]) and 23.0% (95% CI [19.4, 26.7]), respectively. Determinants of psychological distress were a history of mental disorders (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.7), primary (AOR = 2.9) or high school (AOR = 2.4) education (vs. university), no compensation received (AOR = 2.1), high damage to assets (AOR = 1.8), the house flooded more than 1 m (AOR = 1.8), female gender (AOR = 1.8), and limited access to health care services (AOR = 1.8). Determinants of depression were unemployment (AOR = 5.3) or being a housewife (AOR = 2.7), a history of mental disorders (AOR = 4.1), high damage to assets (AOR = 2.5), no compensation received (AOR = 2.0), the house flooded more than 1 m (AOR = 1.8), limited access to health care services (AOR = 1.8), and high wealth index (AOR = 1.7). Conclusion: The results of this study revealed a high prevalence of psychological distress and depression in the flood-affected adult population. The high-risk group, particularly flood victims who had a history of mental disorders, and those exposed to severe damages of flood, should be prioritized for screening, and mental health services.

Keywords: Floods; psychological distress; depression; disaster management; disaster victims; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640231180824 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:8:p:1916-1927

DOI: 10.1177/00207640231180824

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().